The Wartorn Streets of the Heart
by Gold Ninetails
Summary: In war, people die. In life, people die. In love and friendship, hearts are shattered. Defeat doesn't make evil quit. Beat it again, and it just comes back for more. *This is getting cheesier. Kraft Singles, anyone? *Holds up pack of cheese*
1. Introduction

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prower or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him). PS: Thanks for 'some dude' for correcting me on Tails' last name!  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either. Ack, must I say more? He didn't meet anyone in the Sonic series, and he is a loner, a bit. This is set when Tails was thirteen and a war is brewing. Somehow, he is dragged in with all the commotion going on, and in the battlefield, he meets with an escapee, who is kinda hot...  
  
  
  
The year is 2073 CE, or Common Era. The Lylat System has been entirely colonized, even the barren wasteland, Venom. Humans look upon their achievement with awe and respect, building bonds between each other. Technology has advanced so far as to making single-piloted jets fly safely in space and making pulse laser guns for combat ease, since clips are larger and damage is increased dramatically. Despite these feats, mankind still has a lot to fix, like the constant rebellions on Venom and the dramatic rise of the AIDS (Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome) virus that attacks the white blood cells in many humans. Granting Venom an individual government (their preferred, imperialism, defined as having a single leader or emperor) easily solved the first major problem, but the second difficulty was much harder to overcome.  
  
AIDS did not have a cure. It was also spread quickly, as you cannot know if a fellow person had the virus until about three years after being infected. It dramatically reduced the life span of anyone infected by almost fifty years. Drugs to ease the effects of the virus are hard to come by and very expensive. The populations of all the planets were slowly, but surely, declining. The elected president of the United Planets of the Lylat decided it was time for something to be done.  
  
All the planets still under rule by the Cornerian Legislative Government, Corneria, Katina, MacBeth, Fortuna, Titania, Aquas, and Zoness, had come together and volunteered their best biology scientists to find a vaccine for the AIDS virus. They first thought of the idea to find another similar but curable virus to infect people with so their immune system would recognize the AIDS virus and isolate infected cells. They failed after two years of trial and rat (a somehow close genetic relative of humans) testing.  
  
The second idea was to find a powerful drug that can kill off infected cells in the early stages of the virus. It did not work either, for all the rats and mice died minutes after being exposed to such a drug.  
  
The third idea was the most radical, but the most likely. The doctor in charge of the entire project, Dr. Toad, thought he could alter the genetic code of humans using animal chromosomes to make white blood cells completely immune to the virus. It was highly possible, as doctors noted that most animals could not be infected with the virus, and those who can be do not show symptoms.  
  
Dr. Toad worked nights on end to perfect the process. He needed human subjects, uninfected by the virus, in order to test his genetic-altering design. Unluckily for Dr. Toad, many subjects showed strange, yet harmless, mutations but did not become immune. Dr. Toad found his flaw: He did not alter enough chromosomes. So, he finds an average, uninfected person, and starts his new process...  
  
**  
  
"Don't worry, Mr. Hare, this won't hurt a bit. Just relax, and try not to move while I take your blood," Dr. Toad cleared his throat and stuck a small syringe into Mr. Hare's artery. Popping a pressure cap, Dr. Toad allowed the thick, bright red liquid to flow into the tube. Mr. Hare twitched his moustache unhappily as Dr. Toad took out the needle.  
  
"It did hurt," Mr. Hare harrumphed. Dr. Toad chuckled at his impatient patient. Closing the pressure cap again, Dr. Toad, the young male scientist with a bucket cut, stuck the tube into a machine and it started whirring.  
  
His peers gathered around to watch as the blood flowed from the tube into a very thin plate. The screen blinked open to reveal Mr. Hare's blood. Taking another tube of blood, labeled Snowshoe Hare, one of his fellow scientists stuck that into the machine as well. A second screen on the machine flicked open as well, revealing the rabbit's blood sample.  
  
Smiling contently, Dr. Toad pressed a big red button in the middle of the machine and microscopic needles punctured red blood cells in both the blood samples and drew out the nucleus of the cells, primarily B Cells and T Cells. Next, the needles cut open the nuclei and produced two strands of tiny DNA and the machine magnified again. Dr. Toad's face fell.  
  
"What's the matter, Doctor?" A young biologist asked. Dr. Toad shook his head.  
  
"Big problem. It appears that in order for the whole thing to work, I must replace more than 40% of Mr. Hare's DNA. That has a very high chance of changing his appearance," Dr. Toad glanced over at Mr. Hare, who was still sitting on the surgery table with his arm exposed, "I hope you don't mind having fur."  
  
"As long as I don't have that damn virus," Mr. Hare snorted, frowning at the bare white floors and walls. The only decoration was the table and the big machine.  
  
Dr. Toad breathed out heavily and started pressing buttons rapidly. Tinier needles took the delicate chromosomes and switched them around. After about ten minutes, the process was complete and the nuclei were ejected back into the cells, then back into the blood samples, and finally back to Mr. Hare's bloodstream.  
  
"I'm sorry to report, Mr. Hare," Dr. Toad said slowly, with every eye in the room fixed on him, "That in three months, you will have the fur, the ears, the eyes, the snout, and the footpaws of a Snowshoe Hare."  
  
**  
  
And so Dr. Toad, with help from his colleagues, of course, transferred human DNA with animal DNA, making people immune to the virus. Now, though, they cannot be called humans anymore. Every subject turned into the animal of their choice within three months, but they were still able to walk on hind legs and use their hands and brains properly. They also were granted with special attributes of their desired animal, such as moles, being good diggers but with bad eyesight, or avian, being able to fly and such.  
  
Soon, the entire population of the Lylat had been transformed into half-animal, but still capable of doing their old jobs. Now, they went along their lives with a bushy tail dragging behind them, not that many of them minded having fur or feathers. The un-evolved animals were placed in reserves or zoos to remind us of what we once were. No pure humans were left, but society continued. Lives continued, and the AIDS virus was depleted from the entire solar system. Everything went peachy, with the worst crime being a bank robber on the loose, until 2765 CE, when Venom started preparing an army.  
  
The reason for their sudden movement was unknown, and they did not do anything with the rest of the system, and I mean nothing. No contact, no trade, and not even a single jet flew past the space boundaries between the democratic planets and the imperialist planet. Soon, the army was forgotten in the United Planets of the Lylat and life went on. But something happened close to twenty years later that shocked the entire free system. Something that the people of the Lylat though that the emperor of Venom, Dr. Andross, exiled for his horrid experiments, would never do. Dr. Andross was vengeful, and the poor people of Venom were tortured and abused until they joined his army. Dr. Andross turned against the Cornerian Legislative Government. The Cornerian Army was tiny, as they had never used it for over seven centuries, compared to the Venomian Army, and when Andross attacked, Corneria was overwhelmed.  
  
Since it was 2786 CE, and after years of calculation, it was the year that Corneria was nearest to Venom, but the other planets were lined up on the other side of the sun, preventing help for over a month. Andross was ready; he was preparing for thirty years, and the time for unnecessary war had come.  
  
Amidst all of this, a little fox-human that lived in the city that Andross attacked first was dragged into battle. It was a time for desperate measures, and Corneria needed all the help they could get. This little fox, not more special than any other teens other than his double tails that allows him to fly, will fight in the war. The afternoon that Andross attacked: That's where Miles Prower's, along with the unlikeliest of a companion, tale begins. 


	2. A war has just started, Begin Part 1

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prower or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either. Ack, must I say more? He didn't meet anyone in the Sonic series, and he is a loner, a bit. This is set when Tails was thirteen and a war is brewing. Somehow, he is dragged in with all the commotion going on, and in the battlefield, he meets with an escapee, who is kinda hot...  
  
  
  
"Miles, please explain to us Newton's Third Law of Physics," the teacher wheezed. Being a badger in the age of seventy doesn't make him very fun, or loud, for that matter.  
  
Tails could feel the entire class of thirty-three staring at him, even though he had his head buried in a heavy, green textbook. His pointy ears twitched a bit as he racked his vulpine brain for the answer.  
  
'Aw, crap,' he thought, 'I keep on confusing these laws with each other.'  
  
"Erm, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction?" Tails tried. The teacher didn't respond. As Miles, or Tails as everybody calls him because of his double tails, looked up, he saw that the badger teacher, Mr. Stripe, was fast asleep, still standing up and having a stick pointed at the blackboard. Everyone laughed at his limp form.  
  
"Bzzt!" The buzzer that signaled the end of the last period of school sounded, and the students piled up at the door, chattering loudly, all of them ignoring Mr. Stripe, except for a respectful, orange fox.  
  
"Uh, sir?" Tails prodded Mr. Stripe with his finger. He snorted and snapped back to life.  
  
"Hmm? Ah, Miles, is class over already?" He asked good-naturedly, as always, even if students were making fun of his uncombed and unusually long, white hair every morning. Tails personally thought he looked like Albert Einstein.  
  
"Yes, it is, sir. You should catch your carpool van before they take off without you," Tails rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, his heavy, pitch-black backpack slung over one shoulder.  
  
"Thank you, Miles," Mr. Stripe coughed. Tails noticed how Mr. Stripe smelled normal, not of the sweaty fume of other seniors his age. Mr. Stripe always wore gray. Plain, gray pants with a plain, gray sweater was his usual attire, same with today, "Ah, yes, Miles?"  
  
"Yes, sir?" Tails asked as he turned from the doorway, looking back at Mr. Stripe.  
  
"I was just going to say that you aced the math exam last week," he smiled warmly. Tails smiled back and hopped away home.  
  
**  
  
Tails lived with his godfather in a high-rise apartment overlooking the ocean. His parents died in a car crash as they were driving out of the bay that Tails lived in. Tails' godfather, Alex Brophy the white tomcat with a buzz cut, earned a living as a colonel in the Cornerian Reserve Army. He was almost never home, but he would check up on Tails every morning and every afternoon with a phone call with his cheerfully deep voice.  
  
The city that Tails lived in, Victorian Bay, was stationed right at the edge of a bay near the equator, so it was very warm and humid, just the way he liked it. Even though he had long fur and usually wore a tee shirt with a dark green vest, Tails never felt hot. His pants were baggy, but not baggy enough to make him look like a clown. They were usually white, bottomed off with red sneakers. Tails was considered a cross between cool and nerdy, with a bit more emphasis on nerdy, but he didn't mind. Alex always said it was important to get good marks in school and be popular at the same time.  
  
Just like any other normal red fox, Tails' orange fur ended right at his mouth and started again at his neck. The white fur continued down his belly in an oval shape. His tails were tipped with white as well, with zigzags making the line. His paws were white, most unusual for a fox. They were supposed to be black like any other red fox, starting from the forearm, but Tails had his white paws begin at the wrist.  
  
Tails' three long, orange bangs hung in his eyes as he fried spinach and garlic. He put his tongue between his teeth as he measured salt with a very small cup. Dumping it in carefully, Tails started stirring again.  
  
Today, Alex didn't call. When Tails' godfather didn't call, it usually meant that he was coming home for the evening, so Tails tried to make a good meal. He wasn't much of a cook, but at least the food would be bearable for a cat to eat. Alex loved spinach for some reason, and he just adored tuna, so Tails made a huge plate of them both.  
  
Setting the dinner on the table, Tails straightened the tablecloth and covered the plates with metal covers to keep the heat in. Tails was just about to go upstairs and work on his extra credit assignment when the phone rang. Tails turned to look at the phone on the kitchen counter, his heart sinking miserably, thinking it was Alex calling to say he would have to stay at the base for a few more days. Picking it up and leaning against the fridge, Tails sighed and looked at the white walls and the open window in disappointment. The orange sun touched on the sea's beaches just as Tails said 'hello'.  
  
"Hello? Is this Miles Prower?" A gruff voice, quite unlike Alex, asked.  
  
"Yeah, this is Miles," Tails breathed out a breath, having more hope that Alex would come home, "And I don't want to buy anything that you're selling."  
  
"No, I'm not selling anything. Did you see the news this afternoon?"  
  
"Um, no, why?" Tails drummed his fingers on the counter, bored.  
  
"The Cornerian Reserve's main defense base has been bombed by long range missiles."  
  
Tails dropped the cordless phone and his jaw hung open. That was where Alex was!  
  
"Hello?" The voice asked, slightly muffled as there was tiled floor covering the speaker.  
  
"Yeah," Tails said hoarsely as he picked up the phone again.  
  
"I'm sad to report that Alex Brophy is dead. We must ask for you to not panic."  
  
"Why would I panic?" Tails asked, his voice barely a whisper.  
  
"Because a war has just started."  
  
**  
  
A/N: I'll make the next chapter longer, I swear. 


	3. Bill Grey

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prower or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either. Ack, must I say more? He didn't meet anyone in the Sonic series, and he is a loner, a bit. This is set when Tails was thirteen and a war is brewing. Somehow, he is dragged in with all the commotion going on, and in the battlefield, he meets with an escapee, who is kinda hot...  
  
  
  
"What do you mean?" Tails asked.  
  
"Venom has attacked, Miles, and they're invading Corneria! I suggest that you find the nearest forested area and hide," the soldier said.  
  
"Where are they?" Tails looked out the window frantically.  
  
"They are very close to Victorian Bay. Our soldiers can't reach there in time, so just run! Most of the citizens have been warned, and I don't know why you're still here, kid. You're trained, right?"  
  
"If you mean boot camp, no. If you mean living with a colonel, yes, and I tell ya, that's better training."  
  
"Well, I suggest you get to the plateau and wait for the army. You know the place, right? We'll need a good place to camp, so I want you to be at the plateau in thirty minutes, if you can manage it. Give us a few pointers, and I'll have a jet carry you and a few survivors away. Now, MOVE!"  
  
Tails slammed the phone back without another word. Alex told him a lot about Venom and its vengeful leader, Andross. They had been gathering laser weapons and bombs for a long time now, and Alex was always afraid that they would attack.  
  
Tails knew exactly what he was doing. He gathered a blanket, Alex's cell phone that he always forgot to bring to work, some canned food, a whistle, and Alex's laser pistol that was hid away in a closet and shoved them all into his pack. Slinging it over his shoulder, Tails barged out of the front door and onto the balcony and stairs.  
  
**  
  
The streets were deserted as Tails flew around the place; his two tails spinning around like a helicopter's blades. Nearly all the houses were empty, and the ones that weren't had weapons ready inside. Tails headed for the tropic forest east of the city, following the south coast of the sea. Soon after he touched down on the sand of the beaches, Tails heard jets, and a lot of them.  
  
Tails ducked into the shelter of the trees and watched as jets and carrier planes flew from the sea. They all were painted green and yellow, signaling Venom. Tails crashed through the trees, occasionally stumbling across a frightened family huddled close together. Those poor people; Venom just attacked because a ruthless leader imprisoned the soldiers of Venom and poisoned their minds that all the planets were evil, except for Venom. Andross was an insane fool.  
  
Tails sniffed the air with his sharp snout and detected smoke fumes. Climbing quickly on top of a tree, the fox saw distant buildings of the city being blown up and shot at by the jets. The carriers dropped foot soldiers and flew back immediately. Tails approximated six thousand jets and about ten thousand ground soldiers. According to a count by the late Alex Brophy, the Cornerian Army had only a tenth of that. Being a little tall for his age, Tails had to duck under young pineapple trees as he ran north, to where the higher plateau was.  
  
A little while after he left his lookout perch on the big oak tree, Tails found Mr. Stripe and his walking stick waddling as fast as he could east.  
  
"Mr. Stripe!" Tails cried, running towards the panting old badger, "Are you okay?"  
  
"Fine, fine, my boy, just a bit tired," Mr. Stripe coughed, "You better move, Tails. They're coming this way." With a wave of good luck, Mr. Stripe stumbled off through the trees. Looking at his watch compass, Tails noted that he was going north, a bit to the east. Perfect direction if he wanted to wait for the Cornerian Army to come from the north.  
  
Tails loved to hike around the forest, without a huge Venomian army trying to fish out those who escaped from their grasp, that is. The forest wasn't very dense, but low bushes and tropic trees with vines made running hard, so Tails just crouched low and walked as fast as he could. He could still hear distant explosions and the zap of a jet's laser guns. Tails started to hear machine guns, hinting that Venomian ground squadrons were nearby. Glancing at his watch again, he noticed the Cornerian Army was about to arrive in ten minutes, but he was already climbing the hill.  
  
"Hey, you!" A loud voice called. Tails looked down from his point halfway up the plateau. A pair of soldiers clad in yellowish green pointed at him. Panicking, Tails whipped out his pistol and snapped away the safety. He fired a few blind shots behind him as he ran with renewed energy.  
  
'Oh, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die,' Tails repeated to himself. Alex's pistol was light and held thirty rounds of lasers, so Tails kept throwing shots at the two Venomian. They shot back, but their aim was as bad at Tails' un-aimed shots, and they all missed. They ran pretty quick, and soon closed the long gap between them by half. By then, though, Tails already reached the top, remembering his propeller tails.  
  
"GET BACK HERE!" The Venomian lead soldier of the two shouted. He was wearing a corporal's jacket, while the other wore a private's one. The corporal was a lizard and the private was a hyena. They both held big automatics. Getting really freaked out, Tails threw himself on his butt and aimed this time, shooting five rounds at the two. One laser got lucky and hit the lizard on the leg, spurting dark red blood all over the rocky and bushy ground. The private lost his wits and ran off, the corporal limping after him, shouting 'coward' and 'traitor'.  
  
Tails sighed in relief and collapsed on the ground, wiping the sweat off of his brow. It wasn't long before he heard the whir of helicopter blades and the shouting of men. Turning around, Tails saw a gray husky captain wearing Cornerian colors (blue and green) with three soldiers behind him.  
  
"Miles Prower?" He yelled, his voice getting lost in the loud noises of planes and soldiers.  
  
"Yeah!" Tails waved his paws in the air.  
  
"You okay?" The dog asked. Tails nodded, showing him his gun. The captain gave him thumbs up.  
  
"Captain William Grey of the Katinian Army Reserve, and boy do we need your help!"  
  
**  
  
"Katinian? How'd you get here, sir?" Tails asked politely, pointing the soldiers to higher grounds in the normally flat plateau and caves in the cliffs.  
  
"Training mission," Captain Grey chuckled, "I just got here on Corneria three hours ago."  
  
"There's an old bunker over west there!" Tails pointed for a lieutenant, then turning to Captain Grey, "Well, that's all the best places for soldiers. Sorry I can't be of more help."  
  
"Jeez, Miles, this is very helpful, despite what you think. My squadron and these fifty foot soldiers fit perfectly into that bunker and those caves," Captain Grey coughed, squinting to see Tails in the darkness of the night, "Darn that helicopter smoke! Hoarder! Close that damn chute and shut off that bright light! Do you want to give our position away?"  
  
"Sorry, sir," another brown dog sheepishly flicked off the helicopter's searchlight. Captain Grey sighed in disgust.  
  
"Well, Miles, my soldiers are getting the people from the forest now. Ah, here they come," Captain Grey nodded at a few flashlights from five soldiers and about sixty civilians, "Get them in that carrier over there, Rhine."  
  
"Yes, sir," a gruff rhino saluted and shoved the people politely but forcefully into a large transporter.  
  
"Well, time to go, Miles," Captain Grey said, gesturing at the carrier. Tails shook his head.  
  
"No, sir. Give me two more pistol clips and let me go back into the forest," Tails looked at the civilians intently, "I need to get my teacher, Mr. Stripe. He's not in that group." Captain Grey nodded at him understandingly and handed Tails two pistol magazines from his own belt.  
  
"Be careful, kid. You're too young to die, but I understand what you want to do," Captain Grey said, handing Tails a big flashlight, "Come back here, Tails, even though the carrier will leave by the time you'll return. Don't go anywhere other than here once you find your friend."  
  
"I know, sir," Tails gulped.  
  
"Scared?"  
  
"Very, sir. One more thing, sir."  
  
"What's that, Miles?"  
  
"Well, make that two. First, tell your dumb lieutenant to shut off that helicopter, then everything would be silent. Second, call me Tails," he smiled.  
  
"Well, then, Tails, call me Bill," Bill grinned back.  
  
**  
  
A/N: Yep, this does have StarFox character in it. Keep on reading, and see how Tails saves Mr. Stripe. Here is where the twist comes in, though it's kinda expected. Oh, yeah, one more thing, Fox doesn't exist in this universe, and that's a hint, dorks! 


	4. Stone Age tactics

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prower or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either. Ack, must I say more? He didn't meet anyone in the Sonic series, and he is a loner, a bit. This is set when Tails was thirteen and a war is brewing. Somehow, he is dragged in with all the commotion going on, and in the battlefield, he meets with an escapee, who is kinda hot...  
  
  
  
"Mr. Stripe?" Tails called, holding a flashlight in one paw and his pistol in the other.  
  
Tails decided to find the place where he bumped into Mr. Stripe and then go east from there. He found the spot under the palm where he found Mr. Stripe and it was easy going from there, even with the pitch darkness of a cloudy night. Mr. Stripe, being old, wasn't that agile and swift, so there was a trail of trampled plants that signaled a badger going through.  
  
"Mr. Stripe?" Tails repeated. Sighing in defeat, Tails was just about to turn back to the camp when the beam of light hit a figure clad in gray, lying on his side, "Mr. Stripe!"  
  
Tails ran happily towards his teacher, but he didn't move. 'Ah, poor old guy. He must be sleeping.' Tails thought as he knelt down beside the old badger. Tails was just about to poke him awake when he saw the laser hole through the badger's chest, his blood staining the grass and his jacket. His blue eyes snapped wide open in horror as he realized that Mr. Stripe was dead, and there were Venomian soldiers with itchy trigger fingers around.  
  
"Oh, crap," Tails whispered to himself as he heard voices coming from the west. Pulling his gun from his belt, Tails crouched behind a bush, turned off his flashlight, and waited.  
  
"... Where'd ya say the voice was coming from?" A deep male voice asked.  
  
"Over here somewhere, Captain," a squeaky tone answered. A mouse of some sort, probably. Tails breathed in deeply as he readied his pistol. A beam of light shone across the place where Mr. Stripe was.  
  
"Well, he ain't here now. It was probably one of them escapers who found this old hack dead here. Oh, who cares? I'm hungry and tired. Let's go back to camp and eat."  
  
Tails listened silently as the footsteps retreated back where the came and disappeared all together. He looked at his watch. It was midnight, and Tails had to go back to Bill's camp. Taking one last look at the dead Mr. Stripe, Tails set off back, but something on the ground caught his eye. Picking it up, Tails confirmed that one of the Venomian soldiers dropped it. It was a piece of paper from a document. Tails read it in curiosity. He found that it was a memo.  
  
'11:00 - Attack the city directly with all Venomian forces. 11:30 - Send the troops to search the forest for refugees. 12:00 - Execute all that escaped the city.'  
  
'Dumb guy, actually needing this.' Tails thought. 'Too bad they won't find anyone in the forest now, alive, that is.' Crumpling up the paper and tossing it away, Tails started to head back to the camp, hoping that he didn't need to use his pistol.  
  
**  
  
"Wake up, Tails. I think they're retreating their air forces," Bill shook Tails up and dragged him, literally, to the edge of the plateau. Sleepily, Tails looked at the bright, morning horizon to see hundreds of black dots massing away back across the sea space.  
  
"What are they doing?" Tails asked, rubbing his eyes and yawning.  
  
"I think they're going to attack the active army bases. Too bad for them; we have lots of SAMs to spare," Bill grinned evilly and kicked a rock down the steep slope, "Time to attack."  
  
"What?" Tails' jaw dropped open yet again, "Are you nuts?"  
  
"No, but you might want to ask that to the squirrels," Bill played with a string on his jacket: A loose string from the patch on the elbow of the blue overcoat. He watched as one of his soldiers armed a long-range missile to a mortar, "We're surrounded by mountains, on a steep cliff, and we have air support. It's crazy, but it just might distract them for a while before the reserve army comes in from the east. That is where they have their guns aimed at, ya know."  
  
"The reserve army is coming here?" Tails asked.  
  
"Yep. In about twenty minutes, I suppose," Bill said, "Fire!"  
  
Rhine, the rhino sergeant, kicked the mortar and the missile went flying towards the rubble of a city, where a greenish sea of tents that was the military camp was located. The missile hit its target and a large tent went up in flames.  
  
"You're playing with fire, Captain," Tails warned, "They'll be up here in minutes."  
  
"Yep. Fire!" Another rocket was launched and that one also hit its mark. Soon after the second missile, the entire army was swarming quickly towards the plateau, occasionally sending a rocket screaming past; they never hit.  
  
"They don't seem to be well trained," Tails chuckled as another Venomian rocket was seen flying into a mountain three miles away. Bill turned Tails' attention to large boulders dangerously close to the edge of the cliff.  
  
"What do you say, Private Prowler? Shall we give them a rockin' welcome?" Bill smiled. Tails grinned as mortars kept firing behind them and felling tens of Venomians at a time.  
  
"It's a shame to trample those spring flowers, but go ahead, Captain, and maybe their green jackets would add to the décor," Tails sighed and said darkly, "They do have families. Shame and pity they had to attack us."  
  
"Yes, but war is this way, Tails," Bill mumbled as the boulders were loosed and they crushed hundreds of the thickly marching soldiers with every roll. Blood was soon rushing off the steep slope in waterfalls and the dead bodies of Venomians flopped down the hill lopsidedly. Most of the Venomians started retreating back to the city, but some kept running up the slope. Those that did were either shot down by Cornerian lasers or further trampled by rock boulders and catapults.  
  
Bill was true to his word, as masses of carriers and jets roared their way west from the bases of the Cornerian Reserve Army. They dropped sure-looking males in blue off near the edge of the forest and cut off the escape of the surviving Venomians.  
  
"What an easy victory," Tails murmured thoughtfully. Bill frowned.  
  
"That's strange. There must have not even been a thousand that charged up here," he said as he watched Venomians put up their paws in defeat and throwing their weapons on the rocky ground, "I would've sworn that there were at least ten times that many."  
  
"Strange," Tails sighed, almost feeling the hot bile coming up from his mouth. He felt sick to the stomach watching the contents inside the Venomians' skins get ruptured and splattered across the once peaceful plateau slope. Dead bodies were being piled up in huge groups. The remaining Venomians, around seven hundred, were being herded by only five hundred ground soldiers into tied-up gangs of tired and scared people. As Tails climbed down the slope to observe the prisoners, he noticed that most of the dead and the surviving Venomians were very young males, not unlike himself. 'Imagine that. Only thirteen, being killed at such a young age.' Tails shuddered. 'Bill called me Private. Does that mean I'm a part of his squad now? The legal age for a person joining the war was sixteen...'  
  
"Huh?" Tails noticed a figure in one of the piles of dead bodies that had long, pinkish hair. It was a female cat, on her back, with a laser hole through her chest, a bit to the left. She was very young, no older than Tails, probably. Her nametag that was dangling to the side of her head read 'Katt Monroe'.  
  
"She was my best friend," a voice from a group of prisoners spoke. Tails turned around to see a blue falcon looking at him with sad eyes. He seemed to have been shot in the right wing, but he wasn't bleeding badly.  
  
"Pardon?" Tails asked.  
  
"Katt, I mean. I had known her since kindergarten," the falcon gazed at the dead cat with wet eyes, "Damn that Andross. That jackass wanted to force her dad, who was sick with cancer, to go fight in this war. She went instead, that stupid girl."  
  
"That was awful brave of her," Tails choked. He felt his own eyes water along with the falcon.  
  
"I'm Falco. Corporal Lombardi, if you please," Falco reached out his unhurt wing, which was inconveniently handcuffed to the other wing. Tails took it and shook Falco's navy-blue plumage. Tails also noticed that Falco was near his age as well.  
  
"Tell me something, Corporal, did you want to fight in this war?" Tails asked, feeling sorry for all those who died.  
  
"Of course not, you idiot. If I didn't board that damn ship and taken that rifle, my parents and my sister would be dead," Falco frowned at Tails, "Name and rank, soldier, please."  
  
"I'm not a soldier," Tails said, but his wobbly voice hinted it already, "Miles Prower. Call me Tails. Where do you think you will be going?"  
  
"Eh? Where else? We'll be locked up in one of 'em bunkers you see over up on that hill until either the war is over or the army comes back."  
  
"Come back? Where did they go?" Tails raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Let's just say the main Cornerian base is done for, with over fifteen thousand units attacking it. Didn't you see the carriers going off over the ocean?" Falco pecked at his handcuffs.  
  
"So, then. We're the only thing standing in the way of Venom now, aren't we?" Tails asked quietly.  
  
"Who else?" Falco sighed and followed his fellow captives up the escarpment; "Watch out for the soldiers camped out in the forest, Tails. They're still there, for all I know."  
  
**  
  
A/N: Corny, yes, yes. But keep reading. Too bad I had to make Katt die. 


	5. Andy Prower?

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prower or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either. Ack, must I say more? He didn't meet anyone in the Sonic series, and he is a loner, a bit. This is set when Tails was thirteen and a war is brewing. Somehow, he is dragged in with all the commotion going on, and in the battlefield, he meets with an escapee, who is kinda hot...  
  
  
  
"They're coming back."  
  
That was the last sentence Tails was ever to hear from Captain Bill Grey. In that instant he said it, a missile from the Venomian fleet that was returning on the morning six days after the attack on the camp, shot directly at the plateau, blasting over five soldiers dead. Among them, William Grey's body was found. The squadron was leaderless.  
  
Tails was also thrown to the ground, but not seriously hurt. The Venomian carriers dropped ground soldiers directly onto the plateau, and a very bloody, but short, battle ensued.  
  
The remaining soldiers of the squadron ducked behind foxholes and large rocks. The Reserve Army was camped below the plateau, so they had a huge defensive disadvantage. Tails could hear lasers shooting holes in the ground as he ran further north. The screams of the soldiers beside him drove him on, sending a few quick shots behind him every ten seconds or so. Picking up speed and jumping off a small cliff of rock, Tails took off using his propellers, spinning like crazy into the North Mountains. They were far away; nearly six hours is he kept up his pace.  
  
As Tails looked back down, he saw the entire squadron decimated. No prisoners or survivors were taken. The Venomians didn't notice him, as they were a bit more concentrated on the Reserve Army. Tails found a lone foxhole in the ground, far away from the Venomians, and landed there, trying to catch his breath and take measure of what happened at the same time. It all happened so quickly: Bill dead, Venomians attacked, and Reserve Army was probably wiped out now. Checking his pistol, Tails found that he had half of one magazine and a whole other.  
  
Tails didn't know how long he was in the hole, but he approximated five hours until that unlucky Venomian stumbled into the hole he was in to eat his lunch. He had his back turned to Tails the whole time, and he didn't even notice Tails in the four meter long hole. Out of instinct, Tails leapt up onto the soldier and quickly snapped his neck. The Venomian's sandwich fell to the ground with a thud.  
  
He had to get out. Being on a battlefield with laser shots and mortar explosions still going on between the Venomians and the Cornerians made him very edgy. The plateau was very flat, almost bare. There were lots of short, flowering bushes or big rocks around, but not enough to conceal Tails' position.  
  
Glancing at the Venomian, Tails noted that the dead skunk was his age and size and was wearing a sergeant's uniform. Tails didn't specialize in espionage, but at least he could put on a good acting job. Tails still had his pack, so he shoved all his clothes in there before stripping the dead sergeant. It didn't take long to put the clothes on, but Tails kept on retching, knowing that the jacket he was now wearing once held a dead person. Finally, Tails took the skunk's cap and his engraved military tag. It read 'Sergeant Andrew Boyd'.  
  
"Well, I guess my name is Andy now," Tails muttered to himself as he stuck one of his tails out the hole in the pants of Andrew, but he kept the other down his leg. His tails weren't that big; they were just bushy, "Sorry, Sergeant Boyd. Maybe you should've saved your lunch for a while later. At least you don't smell that bad for a skunk."  
  
Tails quickly jumped out of the hole and ran back south. There were a few soldiers here and there, but they were all dead Cornerians. Tails nearly lost the contents of his stomach when he saw that Lieutenant Rhine had his head blown off by a missile, his neck still holding on to pieces of sinew while the head was a few meters away. Tails tried hard not to look at the gaping eyes as he ran on.  
  
As he neared the place where the Venomians set up camp, Tails saw thousands of tents already pitched up with soldiers in front of them, either shooting down the cliff or firing mortars. Tails, as he met with the edge of the cliff, saw Cornerian soldiers camping at where the city once was; now just a big pile of rubble with pieces sticking out like walls.  
  
"Cease fire!" A mean looking bulldog shouted. Immediately the Venomian soldiers stopped, but the smell of smoke lingered around the plateau, "Keep guards every twenty feet, the rest of you, get back into your barracks and eat." The soldiers did as they were told with somber expressions. They saluted to officers as they went by, to Tails as well, saying 'Sir' and putting fingers to their foreheads. Tails nodded to them as if strangers saluting to him were normal.  
  
"Sergeant!" The bulldog general yelled. Tails nearly jumped out of his skin, but managed to stand up straight and salute, "At ease, uh, Boyd. Been out scouting, eh? Well, get back to the officers' tent. Captain Hilchey want to discuss something with all of you ranking soldiers."  
  
"Yes, sir," Tails saluted with what he hoped was a steady voice and marched off to the biggest tent he could find, which would probably be the officers' tent. Pulling the flap back of the tent, which was conveniently just ten steps away, Tails walked in to see twenty or so officers crowded around a table.  
  
"Ah, the last of our group, just in time," a short weasel said in a Scottish accent, "Now, on with business.  
  
"As all of you know, the Cornerians are all safely tucked away in that darn stone city. The only way to get in is with deceit, and just lucky for us; we've got a Cornerian captain's jacket."  
  
'Bill's jacket!' Tails yelled to himself in surprise, noticing the patched elbow. He felt his anger boil up but decided not to blow his own cover. 'Calm down, Miles. In twenty days, the death of Captain Grey will be avenged. In twenty days, the Katinian fleet will come.'  
  
"I want a volunteer. I want someone who can take Private Jackal," Captain Hilchey pointed to a muscular dog with mean, cold gray eyes, "to the camp. Arrange an exchange of prisoners: They have our best officer in there. After that, Jackal will take care of the rest, wearing the captain's jacket, of course."  
  
"I'll do it," Tails called. That guy looked big enough to smash through whatever that the Cornerian Reserve has. A trap that is, but a trap it cannot be achieved.  
  
"Thank you, Sergeant Boyd," the weasel smiled a toothless grin, "I'll have Jackal ready in about thirty minutes."  
  
**  
  
Tails decided to lead Jackal down the slope and into the walls of the city until he executes him. It's for the best, after all, but Tails couldn't help to feel pity for Jackal, even though he was a snarling, moronic idiot who could not hold still for two seconds while Tails put handcuffs on him. The irony made it hard for Tails not to laugh: A spy leading an enemy spy to spy on the first spy's own camp!  
  
Buildings were turned over and houses lay in flat heaps on the ground. The rocky ground made walking hard, but now Tails was in the cover of the half-standing apartments and commercial buildings. Jackal's time to die had come.  
  
"I'm sorry about this," Tails whispered quickly as he pulled out his pistol and shot a single round into Jackal's undersized, brown head. He fell with a heavy thud and the contents of his head were splattered into the cement wall behind him. Tails dropped his gun and fell to his knees and threw up. After two minutes of panting and groaning, Tails stopped: There was someone nearby.  
  
Thinking it was probably a Cornerian scout; Tails stumbled to run away. But as he rounded the corner away from Jackal, his eyes met the yellow and green colors of a Venomian uniform!  
  
"What are you doing here?" The Venomian asked Tails in a slightly British voice, his head covered by a thick cap and his paws lapped by black gloves. His paws held a black pistol.  
  
"You're talking to a sergeant, soldier. Explain yourself," Tails commanded.  
  
"You're talking to a captain. Name, sergeant," he growled.  
  
"Andrew Boyd."  
  
"Oh really?" The Venomian captain suddenly shoved Tails onto his back and pressed the pistol to his forehead, his fingers digging into Tails' shoulders, "Too bad the Andrew I know had black and white fur, orange boy."  
  
'Uh, oh.' Tails gulped. Remembering his own pistol tucked away in his pocket, unseen by the captain, Tails drew it slowly and pointed it to the Venomian's temple. He twitched a bit.  
  
"Shoot me and I still have enough time to live to pull my trigger," Tails warned. The captain laughed.  
  
"Well, we can be here all day, can't we? Why don't we just call a truce for now and drop our guns on the count of three?" The captain offered. Tails nodded his head slightly, "One, two, three." Both guns slipped off paws and clanked to the ground. The captain let go of Tails, but didn't pick up his gun.  
  
"Name, please, sir," Tails sighed in relief, leaving his gun on the ground as well. The captain pulled off his cap and sat down on the dusty rubble.  
  
"Not 'sir', you idiot. 'Ma'am'."  
  
**  
  
A/N: Hmm, I wonder who she is... But of course I don't wonder, 'cause I know. It's not someone who you'd expect (*coughnotsaracough*), and no, Katt had not come back as a very smart zombie, although that would make a good setting for another story... 


	6. Unknown enemy, mysterious ally

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prower or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either. Ack, must I say more? He didn't meet anyone in the Sonic series, and he is a loner, a bit. This is set when Tails was thirteen and a war is brewing. Somehow, he is dragged in with all the commotion going on, and in the battlefield, he meets with an escapee, who is kinda hot...  
  
  
  
"What are you staring at?" The Venomian captain asked curiously. Tails wrenched his eyes away, blushing furiously. It was a fox vixen, about twelve to fourteen years old. She had bright green eyes and blue fur. Her snout was short for a fox, but she had fox-like canine teeth. Sharp, little, bright white ones, to be exact. Her bright blue hair hung down above her neck, but her front bangs hung out and down near her eyes. Her cheek fur was combed neatly back under her ears. Tails then noticed her hourglass figure, suggesting a strong fox.  
  
"Nothing," Tails said quickly. He busied himself by picking up his gun and shoving in into his pocket. The vixen sniffed the air.  
  
"What's that smell?" She asked. Tails sniffed, too. It was the unmistakable smell of brains and blood. The vixen turned to Tails with a hard look, "Okay, little guy. Who did you kill?"  
  
"First of all, I'm not little, and you know that," Tails said hotly, "Second, for you information, I just killed a spy." The vixen raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Aren't you a spy?" She asked, looking at Tails' stolen Venomian uniform. Tails froze.  
  
"Not exactly," he mumbled, "I wasn't delivering any information."  
  
"Right," the vixen sighed, "So, how long does the truce last?"  
  
"What do you think?" Tails asked. Tails fidgeted on his butt. He was sitting on his second tail, and it felt really uncomfortable. Tails stuck the second tail out of the hole as well and sighed in relief.  
  
"I don't plan on making it short," the vixen said slowly, her gaze in Tails' eyes distracted by his two swishing tails, "Most unusual."  
  
"So? What kind of freak has blue fur?" Tails growled. He got that response all the time, but this was a Venomian officer he was talking to! No respect was necessary.  
  
"It's just I've never met a two-tailed fox before," the Venomian said, sounding hurt, "You don't have to be mean." Tails blushed again.  
  
"Sorry," he mumbled. The vixen raised an eyebrow again.  
  
"Wow, you sure have mixed personalities," she chuckled. Tails blushed even more furiously.  
  
"What's your name?" Tails asked, trying to keep her attention away from his scarlet cheeks.  
  
"Krystal," she said.  
  
"Krystal..."  
  
"Just Krystal," she muttered, "How, you ask? Well, dead parents at the age of two, home planet blown up, forced to live like a bum, hitchhiking from one solar system to the other until I found a place to live. Venom, obviously. Then, tortured until I submitted my oath to Andross. Simple enough, orange boy?"  
  
"Sorry," Tails said again, "Does that mean you didn't want to be a captain?" He was beginning to hope there was good in all Venomians.  
  
"Well, it depends on how you look at it," Krystal said, "I want money to live, so I like having a job. I hate killing, so I hate being a captain." Tails nodded as he noticed a long leather strap slung from her left shoulder to her right hip.  
  
"What's that?" Tails asked politely. Krystal reached behind her and took out a small, golden rod. She did something with it and it expanded into a long staff. She looked at Tails and he nodded.  
  
"Just a weapon I use," Krystal shrugged, putting back into its smaller form and sticking it back into her strap pocket, "So, what's your name, Tails?" She asked, meaning his double tails as a callname.  
  
"You got it," Tails smiled. She frowned for a moment and realized what he meant.  
  
"No, your real name," Krystal chuckled.  
  
"Miles Prower," Tails laughed slightly as well, "Do you want to get out of this place?"  
  
"Sure, but we're not going back to the Cornerian camp, no way," Krystal frowned, "I want to go back to Venom." Tails suddenly remembered something that Alex would always recite whenever Tails was afraid to do something. Somehow, the rhyme always cheered him up and fed him courage. Tails racked his brain, trying to remember the words Alex said so many times before.  
  
**  
  
'Where the sun does not shine And the wind does not blow, That is where, my friend, We shall go.'  
  
'Sharpen your sword, Tighten your bow. Into the void of danger, We shall go.'  
  
'When you leave me, When you turn away, That will be when, My aching heart will pay.'  
  
'Where the night Is darker than a crow, Where death roams, We shall go.'  
  
**  
  
"Venom?" Tails asked, "So be it. In return, I want your protection."  
  
"What's there to protect?" Krystal asked, leaned to the side, taking a look at Tail's rear. He quickly moved his tails from sight.  
  
"I'll protect you from the Cornerians, and you'll protect me from Venomian fire," Tails shrugged. It was an easy concept to understand, and Krystal seemed trustworthy in Tails' eyes, but he somehow thought it was more related to her beauty than the way she talked, "You look like a good shot."  
  
"Yeah. Simple enough, but I can't believe I'm making a deal with the enemy," Krystal crossed her arms and looked at Tails. He scoffed, and she smiled, "Oh yeah, no killing Cornerians, right?"  
  
"Of course!" Tails exclaimed. Krystal grinned as she got up from the rubble.  
  
"I thought you'd say that."  
  
Tails slowly stood up from the ground out of laziness and looked around. They were behind a large cement wall that Tails recognized as once being the church. The Venomians' blasts shook the building from the north side, making the rubble collapse on the south side. The only part of the large building that was left standing was the southwest corner. Tails and Krystal were currently on the south side, and Jackal's body was on the west side, still obscured from the enemy. The Cornerian camp was further southeast. Tails could make out a bit of the plateau and the mountains on the west and the east.  
  
"There aren't any jets here," Tails said, "We'll have to go east to the Cornerian Reserve bases, or what's left of them."  
  
"How far?" Krystal asked, squinting at the horizon. The setting sun from the west cast long shadows over the rubble, making very strange, dark figures.  
  
"About a week's journey," Tails frowned seeing yellowish dots climbing down the plateau and into the forest, "Through Venomian-controlled territory." Krystal frowned as well and picked up her gun.  
  
"Well, shouldn't we be going?" Krystal asked. Tails nodded in agreement and started moving. His steps froze as he heard a voice coming from the corner.  
  
"Ugh, isn't that Jackal? Damn it! I knew that fox wasn't an officer!"  
  
Tails immediately leveled his gun and aimed it at the corner. Krystal brought her gun up to her cheek and kneeled down, waiting with unusual calmness. There was a crunching noise of the rubble as a white dog rounded the corner with a gray ferret with a white stripe on his forehead. They gasped as they saw Tails and Krystal, but they didn't have time to draw weapons. Tails pulled the trigger on his silver pistol and a red laser flew from the tip and shot the dog in the chest, a bit to his left. The ferret fell as Krystal's black gun shot a laser through his stripe. They fell at the same time.  
  
"Whew, good shot, Tails," Krystal commented as Tails gulped in horror. The dog's red blood slowly stained the green jacket as Krystal bent over and took his automatic rifle, "Right through the heart. Not bad, even considering that was almost point blank range."  
  
"No bad yourself," Tails squeaked in a weird voice. Krystal threw him a rifle and he caught it with shaking paws.  
  
"Second time killing another, I suppose," Krystal raised an eyebrow. Tails nodded slowly as he caught a grenade she threw, "Remove their gear. We don't have much." Tails obeyed with hesitance. The dog was gone of visible equipment and Krystal was searching his pockets and his boots for knives or other objects of interest. Tails tried hard not to breathe in as he removed the ferret's grenades and pistol holsters. Tails cast a look at Krystal as she dug out a keycard from the dog's left pocket.  
  
"He's a officer of some kind, but why does he have this?" Krystal asked herself. She scowled as she saw Tails hesitating to search the ferret's pockets, "Come on, slowpoke, we don't have all day. Change out of that uniform so the Cornerians aren't looking for our blood." Tails sighed as he removed his stolen jacket and put on his shirt and vest. He blushed as he saw Krystal looking intently at him. Tails threw her his extra change of clothes and she turned the corner to change.  
  
"You could've asked!" He called after her as he unbuckled the Venomian pants and slipped quickly into his own. Tails strapped on the pistol holsters and shoved the grenades into his pack. The ferret had two full laser pistols and a single battery clip of ammunition. He really wasn't the prepared kind, was he now? Tails sighed as he shoved those into the holsters and threw the clip into his hiking pack. He slung the rifle on his shoulder and wore the pack on his back so it didn't feel uncomfortable. Krystal appeared a moment later in Tails' clothes.  
  
"I don't look good in blue," Krystal frowned as she tugged on the dark blue tee shirt that was a few sizes too big. Her fur was not similar to the color, but it looked very strange anyway. Tails saw that she rolled up the pants several times so she doesn't trip. He was half a head taller than she was, anyway.  
  
"Well, live with it," Tails shrugged. Krystal sighed and shouldered her rifle and followed Tails towards the forest.  
  
**  
  
A/N: It's getting somewhere now. It may be confusing that Krystal is in this story, but I like putting her in. She's just the type that gets dragged into war fictions. 


	7. Food and shivering

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prower or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either. Ack, must I say more? He didn't meet anyone in the Sonic series, and he is a loner, a bit. This is set when Tails was thirteen and a war is brewing. Somehow, he is dragged in with all the commotion going on, and in the battlefield, he meets with an escapee, who is kinda hot...  
  
  
  
"Come on!" Krystal urged. Tails panted as he climbed the rubble and heaved his pack over the hill of rock. Krystal caught it in a swift movement and she lent a paw to help Tails up.  
  
"Don't rush me. You'd be slow if you had to lug this thing around," Tails sighed, resting his body on a smooth slab of intact pavement. Krystal chuckled and sat down beside him. Tails lay down and unzipped his pack. Licking his lips, Tails brought out a can of fish, "Oh, crud. I forgot to bring a can opener."  
  
Krystal took the can roughly from Tails' paws, giving him a nick with her claw as she took it. Tails scowled, but watched in interest as she took out a serrated knife from her boot and cut the can open. Tails opened his mouth to thank her, but that was before he saw her gobble up the food, alone.  
  
"Hey! That's mine!" Tails whimpered like a baby kit. Krystal gave him an odd look and kept on eating.  
  
"I'm hungry. Give me a break, will you? I haven't eaten in days now," Krystal mumbled as she wolfed down tuna and salmon. Tails grumbled unhappily as he took Krystal's discard knife and tried to pry open another can. Krystal giggled as he tried fruitlessly to jab the tin can with the knife, "Aw, poor little kit having troubles with the big, mean can?" She tossed her empty can away, took the knife, and opened the can for Tails. He gave her an impatient look and snatched the can away, deliberately scratching her while at it.  
  
The sun set completely over the west mountains two hours ago, and now the two vulpine shadows in the dark were trying to find their way out of the labyrinth of busted rock. Tails muttered something about rude Venomians as he munched down his makeshift dinner under the dim starlight and moonlight. Krystal played with her rifle, unloading it, then slapping the clip back in, and repeat. Tails shifted away as he noticed the safety on the automatic gun was off.  
  
The wind carried hot air and humid droplets, making Tails very uncomfortable as he tried to sleep on the rock. The blanket he packed wasn't keeping out the moisture. Krystal stole and draped Tails' vest over herself as she laid down a few feet away. Krystal laughed out loud as he tossed and turned in his blanket.  
  
"Hey, shut it and go to sleep," Tails mumbled wearily.  
  
"Who's gonna stay watch?" Krystal asked. Tails said something about pretending to be tourists before he nodded off.  
  
**  
  
"Wake up, sleepyhead," Krystal cooed, pulling on Tails' tails. He groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes, annoyed. Six o'clock in the morning when the sun wasn't up didn't seem to be Tails' idea of waking up.  
  
The sun wasn't entirely up, but it was actually up enough to cast an orange glow on anything visible in the east horizon. Tails usually got up at seven or eight, and his eyes were just red, swollen balls at this hour. Krystal, however, seemed fine with waking up before dawn.  
  
"What time is it?" Tails slurred. Krystal picked up his left paw and looked at his watch.  
  
"Three minutes after six," Krystal cocked her head to one side to look at Tails' matted form, "You might want to get up."  
  
"Why? 'Tis only six," Tails grumbled before collapsing again on the slab. Krystal growled angrily and pulled on his tail, hard. With a yelp of pain, Tails bolted upright and stumbled around. He hit a wall and tripped on rubble before he found Krystal's neck to strangle on, but even then, he was so sleepy that he grasped Krystal's forearm. Krystal laughed as he grunted to squeeze her wrist.  
  
"Come on!" Krystal urged. When Tails fell again, she took out a pistol and fired it dangerously close to Tails' head, making him jump up again. A long string of curses were head as Tails staggered to his feet and picked up his rifle and pack.  
  
"Almost to forest," yawn, "About three hours," yawn, "We'll get to edge of trees," yawn, "And stop trying to shoot me."  
  
**  
  
"Pathetic morons," Krystal scoffed, looking at the roughly made foxholes and trenches, "Well, at least they will be good protection as we eat lunch."  
  
They were at the city boundaries, where paved highways crossed with each other and where the cement was blown away by heavy artillery. The Cornerian Reserve probably dug these trenches to hide from enemy fire. Tails could see the forest line a few miles away and the mountains after it. The gray rocks were covered by white clouds. The sky was a bright blue, with the odd cloud drifting by and obscuring the sunlight for a few seconds. A gentle breeze was blowing from the plateau, and Tails could swear he smelled death lingering in the air.  
  
"Do you ever have the feeling that we shouldn't be here?" Tails whispered to Krystal. She sniffed the air and shrugged, jumping into a hole and dragging Tails in as well.  
  
"Food," she said simply. Tails dug in his pack and found that he had only five cans left, just enough for one more day. Giving her a can, Tails didn't bother to get himself one.  
  
"Seriously, I smell something," Tails mumbled. Krystal pried open the can and wolfed down the fish, not paying any attention to what Tails was doing. Tails slowly took out his stolen pistols and aimed it at the north end of the trench. His suspicions were confirmed as he heard voices. Krystal heard, too, and set down her can.  
  
"... The spy that the colonel sent was found dead in that city there, along with two other bodies."  
  
"Holy crap. Who had the guts to stand up to Jackal?"  
  
Three soldiers jumped down into the foxhole. Tails, in an instant, fired four rounds quickly and ducked as a volley of lasers went in his direction. Tails heard a scuffle as Krystal jumped out of the trench. Tails himself rolled behind a crack in the hole, listening as pistol and rifle shots sounded from the north end. He also caught agonizing screams from the Venomian's end. He had shot one of them, obviously. Tails waited until he heard empty clicks of triggers before he jumped out of the crack and fired an entire clip into the remaining soldiers. Both fell with holes in their chests. The third one was already dead, from the looks of Krystal standing over him with a bloody knife.  
  
"Huh, three corporals. One dog, one pigeon, and one lizard; typical scouts," Krystal said as she relived them of ammo and grenades, "Catch." Tails caught three pistols and four clips.  
  
"We can't carry all of this!" He shouted to Krystal. Shrugging to himself when she didn't reply, he emptied the pistols and shoved the clips into his pack. Krystal took the rifle clips and the grenades.  
  
"Come on, we have to go," Krystal called, climbing out of the foxhole. Tails followed, flying along with his tails. He soon caught up to the running Krystal, who looked up in surprise as he flew along beside her, "What the-? You can fly?"  
  
"Sure," Tails grabbed Krystal by the paws and took off.  
  
"Let me go!" She screamed.  
  
"Oh, the poor captain afraid of heights?" Tails chuckled as he rose to a higher altitude. At least Krystal wasn't that heavy; he felt he could fly for a few miles like that, but only if Krystal didn't dig her claws into his paws or if she didn't scream so much.  
  
"Don't drop me," Krystal whimpered as Tails rose so high that she couldn't even see the trenches anymore.  
  
They were well within the forest now. Tails had fun with Krystal by letting go of her paws and flying down to catch her again. She clamped her paws tighter on his after that.  
  
"You had better shut up, or else they might send SAMs at us," Tails warned. Krystal gave a forced chuckle as they set down in a clearing. She gasped for breath as Tails dropped her onto the tall grass.  
  
"Don't... Don't..." She waved a paw at Tails. He laughed as he sat down beside her and felt his paw, where she pinched him.  
  
"Come on, let's go to the trees for cover," Tails smiled as he dragged her along east, out of the clearing. Krystal sighed in relief, as he didn't take off flying again. She lay down on the ground as they reached the shelter of the trees.  
  
"Don't ever do that again," Krystal said, leaning against a rainforest oak. Tails smiled evilly as he spiraled his double tails. Krystal held tight to the tree as Tails pulled her, "NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!"  
  
"Okay, you don't have to yell," Tails laughed as he let go of her. Krystal punched him playfully on the shoulder with a scowl. Tails retaliated by pinching her furry cheeks. She scowled again and tackled him down, rubbing hard with a knuckle on his head. Tails yelped in pain, as she didn't let up.  
  
Tails flipped her on her back and did the same to her. She screamed and laughed at the same time. Krystal slowly pushed Tails away and looked at him intently.  
  
"I'm beginning to like you, kiddo."  
  
"Hey, I'm probably older than you!" Tails frowned. Krystal raised an eyebrow.  
  
"How old?"  
  
"Thirteen."  
  
"Twelve."  
  
"So?"  
  
"So what?"  
  
"So what so?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"What 'what'?"  
  
"Stop it!"  
  
"Stop what?"  
  
"What? Stop what?"  
  
"What?" Tails asked, his brain ready to pop. Krystal laughed hysterically and rolled around on the dirt ground.  
  
"Yeah, I really like you."  
  
Tails' stomach churned a bit and his brain froze for a second. Krystal looked at him with emerald eyes that Tails was sure that could read minds. Tails blushed and looked away, pretending to be busy with folding up his blanket.  
  
"What are you doing? It's only two in the afternoon," Krystal peeked over his shoulder. Tails blushed even more, but his orange fur covered most of it. Her silky cheek fur brushed on his as she stood back up, making Tails shiver a bit, "Hey, am I intimidating you or something? 'Cause it's not cold."  
  
"We had better be going now," Tails said loudly, ignoring her question. She threw a stick at him playfully, making him relax a bit. 'Well, at least she's naïve.'  
  
**  
  
A/N: Aw, poor lovelorn Tails... But, you know how this will end, doncha? 


	8. To shoot and to get shot in return, or i...

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prower or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either. Ack, must I say more? He didn't meet anyone in the Sonic series, and he is a loner, a bit. This is set when Tails was thirteen and a war is brewing. Somehow, he is dragged in with all the commotion going on, and in the battlefield, he meets with an escapee, who is kinda hot...  
  
  
  
"Whew, this place is hot," Krystal said up suddenly, wiping sweat from her brow. Tails was weirded out by how unlike foxes that foxes were. Foxes were classified under the canine family due to their sharp canine teeth, color-blindness, and the inability to sweat on their hide. Instead, though, natural foxes sweat using their tongues. Human foxes don't, and neither are they color-blind. Tails was sure of that as he took note of the green grass and the darkening blue sky above the tall, tropic trees.  
  
"Well, what do you expect?" Tails chuckled as he heaved his pack on the ground and sat down, "End of the afternoon, sun still shining, near the darn equator, and summertime."  
  
"How long have we been traveling for now?" Krystal asked. Tails thought for a moment. It was the third day after the incident at the trenches, and they were close to the mountains now.  
  
"Five days, maybe," Tails took out a canteen and drank a bit, "We're out of food."  
  
"I feel like indulging in cannibalism," Krystal joked. Tails spluttered on his water and coughed.  
  
"Hey, no eating my flesh, got it?" Tails took out a pistol and aimed it at Krystal, "I don't know what Venomians do, but this is Corneria we are on!"  
  
"I think you missed the sarcasm," Krystal grinned, unconcerned that the safety was off. Tails lowered the gun and forced a laugh. He shoved it back in the belt holster and looked around, sniffing furiously.  
  
There was an odd smell in the air, but not unpleasant. Tails recognized it as some kind of vegetable being boiled. It was something that Alex always used to eat. Green, slimy when cooked, lots of vitamins... Spinach!  
  
"Food!" Tails yelled, running in the direction of the smell. Krystal hurriedly followed him into the depths of the woods, hard northeast. Tails was running so fast, driven by hunger that he crashed into three trees and tripped over a few roots. Krystal was a bit more observant and laughed whenever Tails fell with a new lump on his head.  
  
"You know, this just might be a trap," Krystal called. Tails ignored her and stumbled into a clearing. A little makeshift hut was right in the middle with a smoking chimney.  
  
Tails flew, literally, to the door and knocked heavily on it. There wasn't an answer for a while, but after about thirty seconds, a very old hare barged out, carrying an antique shotgun, brandishing it at Tails and Krystal. Tails noticed that the barrels were empty, but he played along anyway.  
  
"Get out! Out, you Venomian scum!" He shouted at Tails, his cloth jacket fluttering at he spoke and his red shirt and pants flopping around. His old, gray figure didn't look very threatening, but his red eyes and the large, but straight ears suggested otherwise, even though his stripe down his forehead made him look like a common, cute rabbit.  
  
"I resent that," Krystal scowled. The hare turned his empty gun at her. She didn't flinch, but instead drew her rifle and pointed it at the rabbit. He squeaked an odd noise and shut the door in Tails' face. Tails turned ominously to look at Krystal, rubbing his swollen nose. She looked away sheepishly.  
  
Tails knocked again, and again the hare emerged, waving the shotgun around. He shouted something about evil and whacked Tails over the head with it. Krystal had to put her paw in her mouth to stifle a laugh.  
  
"We are not Venomian soldiers!" Tails yelled, snatching the shotgun away, "We are refugees escaping toward the Cornerian Reserve base!" The hare looked only mildly convinced as he snatched the gun back.  
  
"Names!" He ordered. Tails sighed.  
  
"Miles Prower," he said in a nonchalant tone. Krystal, however, stood up straight and saluted.  
  
"Captain Krystal of the Venomian Army, leader of the 49th Foot Squadron," she said. The hare looked horrified as he slammed the door in Tails' face again.  
  
**  
  
After a few minutes of explanations and apologies, but from Tails only, the old rabbit let them in. He introduced himself as Lieutenant Peppy Hare of the decimated Active Cornerian Army. He sneaked aboard one of the Venomian ships to escape and wound up in the forest. He also took a large box of supplies from the ship while he was at it. Peppy was very kind to Tails, but he kept casting alarmed looks at Krystal whenever she clanged her spoon for her spinach soup.  
  
The hut was plainly made of straw and sticks with a single room. Peppy put all the supplies in one corner and had a fire going in the middle of the room, boiling water to cook wild spinach. Krystal was sitting in a corner, drinking soup while Peppy and Tails sat by the fire, trading necessities.  
  
"I want two clips of pistol ammunition and a gun," he negotiated, "In return, I'll give you fifteen cans of food."  
  
"Three clips and a gun for twenty cans," Tails folded his arms, "Final offer."  
  
"Fine, fine," Peppy grumbled, handing over a box of canned food. Tails dug a pistol from his pack and took three clips. Handing them over to Peppy, he took the box and emptied it into his pack, "That'd last you two for four days, tops. You need probably another week to get over the mountains."  
  
"We'll manage," Tails grinned, twirling his tails around. Krystal gulped and mumbled something about not being able to breathe in thin air.  
  
**  
  
"AAARGH!" Krystal screamed as Tails lifted her up into the air by her stomach. He waved goodbye to Peppy and flew off in the direction of the gray mountains. Tails smiled as she squinted her eyes closed and mumbled prayers under her breath in a foreign language.  
  
"Having fun yet?" Tails chuckled evilly.  
  
Krystal whimpered as he rose to the height of a twenty-story building. Flying visibly higher with every passing minute, Tails stopped climbing as he noticed the thin air at the height of a three-hundred-story building. Krystal's childish whimpering grew steadily louder as his paws slowly slipped hold on her. Her tails started to coil around Tail's leg as he flew.  
  
"You're gonna drop me," she yelled. Tails laughed heartily as he banked right toward a small river near the mountains. The forest ended and rocky terrain rose higher into the clouds. The stream was flowing quickly and with clean, blue water.  
  
"Do you want to set down there?" Tails asked, pointing at the stream with his paws still holding tight onto Krystal's abdomen. She nodded her head, hitting Tails' sore nose. He grumbled unhappily and began to descend slowly.  
  
There were greenish spots down near the stream, but Tails' couldn't figure out what they were. Imagining they were just algae, he ignored them and went eastern, more to the start of the river. As Tails neared the ground, something started shooting at them!  
  
"Venomian patrols!" Krystal shouted urgently. Tails tried to rise again, but his tails felt very tired to flying so far. The air was soon thick with distant shouts and the lasers of rifles and snipers. Tails banked this way and that, trying to avoid them, but he was unlucky this time.  
  
"Ung..." Tails grunted as a laser found its way into his shoulder. The pain was almost unbearable, shooting through his body like a thousand needles. He held desperately on to Krystal, figuring it was still at least twenty meters down. Tails ignored the flowing blood that was squirting onto his vest and staining Krystal's neck fur and shirt.  
  
"Tails!" She yelled, "Let go!"  
  
Tails felt lightheaded and dizzy, and he didn't need urging to do it; his weak grip already slipped from Krystal's stomach and she landed neatly on the southern bank, away from the Venomians, who were running to get them. Tails, rid of the extra weight, began to climb. He didn't notice, as he was half-unconscious already.  
  
"TAILS!" He heard Krystal scream before he black out entirely.  
  
**Temporarily Krystal's point of view**  
  
I saw him fall with his blood still escaping the gaping wound. From my experience with the wounded, I would say one of his branching arteries were hit. Tails hit the water with a sickeningly loud splash. I rushed into the water, which, to my surprise, was very deep for a stream spanning ten meters.  
  
"Tails!" I yelled, diving into the ice-cold liquid. His head dipped underwater, but I could see his dark shadow lingering some four meters in front of me. As I reached him, I saw that he was unconscious, his blood staining the water red. He was as cold as the water, his paw almost frozen. He had lost enough blood to fill a tub.  
  
I felt my chest heave as I dragged him up into the surface. The Venomians, my former allies, had reached within shooting range of us, and were firing wild shots into the water. Luckily for Tails and me, their aim was almost as bad as their stench. I couldn't use my blaster; it was soaked and if I pulled the trigger, I'd only end up zapping myself with the battery. The grenades would also be useless. The cover was waterproof, but in the two- meter deep river, the powder and explosives inside would get dissolved in an aqueous solution. Damn those idiots: The morons at the weaponry development team just had to use a strong base for the plastic explosive.  
  
Of course, being a trained warrior of my old planet (which was surprising, considering that I was only four when the training ended) taught me a few things. Pulling out my staff from the leather strap it was in; I aimed the tip at the Venomian soldiers. They looked confused, but didn't do anything but shoot more. The only way to convert mana into a weapon in a magic-less planet like Corneria, I had to channel the power from myself. Doing so, I would weaken myself for a few minutes. Who cares now? My friend and I were in danger!  
  
"Eat this!" I yelled as I felt the magic course through my body and into the staff. There was a blinding flash of hot white light and a huge fireball screamed out of the golden weapon, pummeling with amazing speed into the Venomians. The soldiers were incinerated within a second. I felt spent and my muscles ceased working for a while, summoning up a spell like that, but I managed to drag Tails to the southern bank anyway.  
  
Panting heavily, I pulled Tails onto the bank and tried to seal his wound with the blanket, but it was too thick and it didn't let enough air in to oxidize the blood into clots in time. I aimed my staff at him left shoulder and felt again, the magic escaping me. I touched the glowing staff onto the bleeding shoulder and it healed instantly. Feeling even more tired; I didn't even feel like I could raise the heavy staff or the rifle. The only way for protection was another magic spell, so I cast a magical barrier in the shape of a small dome around Tails and me before I collapsed, fainting alongside him. The last though was for him to wake up in twelve hours, which was how long the spell lasted. I knew I couldn't.  
  
**Back to third person Tails**  
  
A/N: Yeah, back to third person Tails in the next chapter, sorry. Yeah, kinda weird that Krystal could use a staff before she could write or speak properly, eh? But come on, give my imagination a break! 


	9. Blood loss

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prower or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either. Ack, must I say more? He didn't meet anyone in the Sonic series, and he is a loner, a bit. This is set when Tails was thirteen and a war is brewing. Somehow, he is dragged in with all the commotion going on, and in the battlefield, he meets with an escapee, who is kinda hot...  
  
  
  
"Ugh," Tails grunted as he sat up. He felt weak and dizzy and his head was spinning. He didn't remember a thing, until he noticed the giant splotch of blood on his vest and shirt.  
  
Looking around frantically, he found Krystal lying beside him, unconscious on the cold clay. Trying to get up, Tails fell back again in pain. He felt cold, in addition to being wet. Every breath he took made him flinch and cough. There was still water in his lungs and he couldn't breathe properly.  
  
Night had fallen and the Venomians were nowhere to be found. Tails lay on the ground, sighing, tired, and dizzy. There wasn't any blood on Krystal and Tails didn't find any visible wounds. Tails tried splashing water on her face, but it didn't do. Tails noticed that she was holding on to her golden staff. He sighed in relief as he noticed that she was still breathing. Her breaths were long and slow, as if she was sleeping. Tails felt anger boil up as he assumed that she fell asleep with Venomian patrols in the area.  
  
"Up, you!" Tails shouted. In the process, he coughed up more water and just ended up making his throat sore. Krystal didn't budge. Getting really peeved, Tails took her by the paws and flew off towards the mountains, far away from the Venomians.  
  
**  
  
It didn't take Tails long to find a safe ledge in the mountain range. He set down on a particularly smooth, large one. Tails sat down, laying Krystal near the corner of the mountain and ledge, feeling so tired he though he could fall asleep in a second. Driving off the urge to sleep, Tails busied himself with a midnight snack.  
  
There were a few dry bushes around that didn't get enough moisture from the slippery clay-ish soil. Tails broke off a few of those and dumped them in a pile under the ledge in a sort of vertical ledge with a cave. Shooting the splinters alight with his pistol, Tails began to cook a warm meal of fish and beans. The smell must've awoken Krystal, because she jumped down a minute after Tails started warming the fish.  
  
"Up now, sleepyhead?" Tails asked, mimicking Krystal's constant antics about his sleeping behavior.  
  
"Is that for me?" Krystal asked, licking her lips and pointing to the canned fish. Tails shook his head in a joking way and gobbled up the contents of the can by himself. Krystal fumed and stole his pack.  
  
"Hey!" Tails cried, jumping out of the cave after her, "Don't hog all the chow!"  
  
"Bite me, orange boy," Krystal chuckled, taking out a large can of tuna and she pried it open with her knife. Tails scowled.  
  
"Where and how hard, blue girl?" Tails retorted, jumping up to the ledge after her. She picked up her staff and whacked Tails over the head with it.  
  
"Take that!" She giggled, watching an already tired Tails reel from the blow. He moaned in pain and took his pack back down into the cave. Krystal bent down the ledge to look at him, "On my tail and go easy on it, Miles."  
  
"I'd rather not, thank you," Tails laughed along with Krystal, who was hanging upside down from the ledge. Tails put out the fire and followed her up, "Say, my friend, what happened after I got shot? And where's my wound?" Krystal froze.  
  
"You didn't get shot," Krystal said quickly, "Don't you remember? I shot a guy from behind you and his blood went all over you shirt. Then we got knocked out from another Venomian."  
  
Tails looked at her with a questioning glance, but she turned away to look up the mountain. She further busied herself by eating the large can of tuna. Tails didn't bother to ask her any further.  
  
**  
  
"Wake up, sleepyhead," Krystal snickered, dragging Tails by his tails out from under his blanket. He groaned and kicked her in the shins. Krystal frowned and just pulled harder until Tails jolted up and started shouting angrily.  
  
"Jeez!" He groaned, rubbing his head. He still felt very lightheaded, and it wasn't because of the thin air. He mumbled empty threats to Krystal all the way through breakfast.  
  
"Someone needs sleeping pills," Krystal pointed out. Tails gave her a weary look and went on with his beans. His jaw felt numb for some reason and his heart felt weak and strange.  
  
"Blood loss," Tails said suddenly. Krystal dropped her empty can in surprise. She looked away quickly. Tails gave her a stare, "Blood loss. I feel tired, sleepy, and weak because of blood loss. I did get shot, didn't I?"  
  
"No, you didn't," Krystal said firmly, "It's just the mountain air." Tails didn't believe her, but he kept his suspicions to himself.  
  
Strangely, Krystal didn't complain during the entire flight up the mountain. Tails even tried to drop her, but she only screamed in surprise, not cursing him or anything. Tails' shy nature with girls overtook his teenage brain for some reason again and he didn't say anything either.  
  
Tails remembered when he was about ten or nine, he always thought that girls were yucky and weird, but Krystal seemed almost too boyish. She actually could shoot a gun, for crying out loud! Her easy-going nature reminded him of Alex. Even though, she still wasn't the best of partners. She seemed almost too much of a threat, even more now with a secret she was keeping from him. That staff was different, Tails knew. That staff looked oddly familiar.  
  
Tails wasn't tall. He was a whole head shorter than Alex was. But then again, Alex was one of the tallest people in the system. At four and a half feet, Tails was still considered tall. Krystal looked shorter, at four or so feet, about average for an animal-human. She had those emerald green eyes that seemed to reflect back on Tails what he always tried to be: Strong, independent, brave, and smart. Tails swore he could see his own reflection and even his own bright blue eyes in hers. She was still very young, and arrogant in a way, but she still was a captain in an army, which was extremely surprising. Her small, innocent figure, her cute, slight British accent, and her sweet smile made her the least person you'd expect to aim a gun at another person's head and fire without flinching. Add a 20- mm laser shot automatic rifle and a grenade shoved in her pocket, though, and she becomes some sort of a devil-angel. What even surprises Tails more was why she acted so playful for a soldier.  
  
"Come on, Krystal, tell me what's going on," Tails whispered in Krystal's ear as they flew up and up. Krystal shivered at his voice.  
  
"I can't tell you. You wouldn't understand," she whispered back. Tails sighed and set down on the top of the mountain. It was a very small, rocky plateau. There were a few shrubs in the middle of it, but rocks otherwise. From there, Tails could see the plateau in the northwest and the base in the east, not very far off.  
  
"There it is," Tails said, letting go of Krystal. She looked at where he was pointing. The base seemed mostly intact, but the south side of it had a huge hole in it. A landing field for planes and a large field for tanks were to the north, both of which were bombed, but a large chunk was still remaining. Several planes were around it, but the base looked otherwise deserted.  
  
"A few miles off," Krystal muttered, "We should be there by nightfall." Tails nodded and peered up at the noon sun. Taking a can out from his pack, Tails offered it to her. She took it with a 'not-usually-like-her-way-of- saying-thanks' sweet smile and nod. Tails felt his heart skip a beat.  
  
**  
  
The rest of the trip down went without much action, unless you count Tails being too tired to fly so they had to run down. Tails' way of running down is a bit different from Krystal's idea of going down a near-vertical mountain.  
  
"TAILS!" Krystal screamed. He just smiled and held her tighter to his chest. She clamped her arms around his neck harder in return. Tails ran down the mountain with his double tails acting as propellers to make him go faster. He dodged trees, boulders, and bushes with amazing speed as he held Krystal with one paw under her calf and another under her neck, in a heroic fashion. Despite her screaming and pleading for Tails to slow down, Tails just ignored her. Partly because he knew she was actually enjoying the ride and partly because he couldn't slow down without breaking his neck.  
  
A long trail of dust fell behind them as Tails picked up speed and started to head into the second forest they will go through. This forest wasn't as tropical, but it was just as crowded. Tails slowed down by flying up and braking there. Krystal nearly kneeled down and kissed the ground once Tails stopped in a low-grass clearing.  
  
"You okay?" Tails asked, brushing sweat off of his brow. Krystal panted and collapsed on her back, too exhilarated to answer. Tails sat down beside her and took a rest.  
  
"Ugh, Tails?" She turned away. Tails hummed. Krystal fanned the air around her, "Take a bath, will you?"  
  
"Hey, it's not my fault the fastest way down required the most sweat!" Tails chuckled. Krystal snickered along.  
  
"I was just kidding."  
  
"You didn't seem like it," Tails said. Krystal laughed and sighed. Tails looked at her with confusion, "Hey, I did all the work. Why are you so tired?" That brought another laugh from Krystal.  
  
"You're a great guy, Tails," she said, "I'll be darned if you didn't befriend everyone you met."  
  
"Well, I really don't," Tails tickled Krystal's stomach, "You're my first good friend since, well, forever." Krystal stopped giggling and brushed his paw away. She rolled on top of him and squeezed his shoulders.  
  
"Aw, poor orange boy," she humored. He gulped as he felt that odd tingling down his spine and pushed her gently off.  
  
"Time to get going," he announced. Krystal grabbed onto his paws quickly as he took off into the air again; the butterflies still in his stomach.  
  
**  
  
A/N: IMPORTANT NOTE! I'm basing this Tails on the Archie comic book series, which means he actually is more powerful than you think. I think I'm making his personality right, but it's too late to change all that now. You'll find out what I mean by 'more powerful' in the next few chapters. 


	10. Goodbye

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prowler or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either. Ack, must I say more? He didn't meet anyone in the Sonic series, and he is a loner, a bit. This is set when Tails was thirteen and a war is brewing. Somehow, he is dragged in with all the commotion going on, and in the battlefield, he meets with an escapee, who is kinda hot...  
  
  
  
Most of the jets actually required keys to work them, so Tails and Krystal had to search inside the base. The front door wasn't locked for some reason, so Tails was free to search all around the base.  
  
Most of the place was office and office in neat rows of doors and walls. The hallways were tiled with clean white flooring and smaller hallways branched off left and right here and there. Tails figured he could find a key in the barracks.  
  
The sleeping quarters were also a clean white. Everything was white from the desks to the beds. The only thing special about the place was that the bomb went in there and there was dust everywhere, not to mention dead bodies and blood.  
  
"Whoa," Krystal said as they entered through the door. Most of the beds were bunk beds. Several rooms branched off near the left side of the room, probably to the officer's dorms. Tails counted thirteen dead people near the far wall, where the gaping hole was. A large chunk of the wall and ceiling were also missing there. What caught Tails' attention the most was the dorm door labeled: Colonel Alex Brophy.  
  
"This is my uncle's room," Tails whispered, pointing it out to Krystal. She jiggled the knob on the white door, but it didn't budge. She looked through the blurred window in the door, but saw nothing. Tails sighed in disappointment, but that was before he saw Krystal ramming down the door with her shoulder. With a cry of frustration after trying fruitlessly to tackle it down, Krystal smashed the window with the butt of her rifle and reached her paw into the other side. There was a small click as she unlocked the door from the other side.  
  
Krystal opened the door to reveal a nice, large room with a twin bed and white spreads. There was a nice, white-painted oak table and chest on the left side, whereas the bed and the closet were on the right side. Tails noted the large hole in the right wall from an explosion. He also picked up a disgusting odor, not unlike the one in the soldiers' dorms: The smell of death.  
  
"Alex!" Tails cried as he bent over his uncle's mutilated body. He must've been caught in the blast. His face was in an expression of terrible pain and his body was bloody and severed by shards of wall. He was behind the bed near the dresser and the phone, apparently going to call Tails before he died. Tails felt tears streaming down his cheeks.  
  
"That's your uncle?" Krystal asked, looking at the pure-white tomcat, now bloody and tattered. He was wearing the colonel's jacket. His thick, black piloting gloves covered his paws. He had a key poking out of his pocket...  
  
"A jet key," Tails picked it out and showed it to Krystal. The handle was black plastic, covering the radio transponder. The key itself was thick, shiny steel with plenty of teeth and lines to make it very hard to copy. Krystal took it with a nod and stuck it in her own pocket.  
  
Krystal turned to leave, but she stopped as she noticed Tails standing over the chest. Tails used his paws to pry it open to reveal an assortment of documents and files. Krystal looked at him in curiosity.  
  
"They're just a bunch of papers," she said, "They're not worth going through. Lets go find another key so we can get out of here." Tails ignored her. Instead he started to flip through the documents. Most of them were just office memos and official requests, but near the bottom, Tails found a few dossiers.  
  
"Hey, check this out," Tails pulled out a document labeled 'Amy Rose', "Who's she?" Krystal walked over and examined the picture inside the document. It was a photo of a young hedgehog, no older than fourteen, standing in front of a field. She was wearing a scarlet dress and a matching headband. The most peculiar thing about her wasn't her weird dress or her bright green eyes; it was that her thick locks fur and quills were pink.  
  
"Who's she?" Krystal squinted at the picture and the official records, "Just a civilian, nothing very important other than her father was a major in the army. So what?"  
  
"There is a reason why she's here," Tails flipped through pages of her history and schooling records until he found a official request dating to two months ago, "Get this: 'Amy Rose is to be transferred under the command of Colonel Alex Brophy in four months from this time. Prior one month to that, however, she is to receive special ops training from Captain Mason Hound. Her protection is the priority of anyone that reads this document or knows of its existence, as of which goes similar to the four other 'special' children. Even though two of these children are under the command of Venomian forces, I, General Pepper of the Cornerian Army, must request anyone who reads this document to keep silent of the secrets. An attempt to reclaim the fourth and fifth child will take place six months to date. In the meantime, however, officers, search for unidentified 'specials'. Thank you for your time in this important matter.' Then it's signed the general."  
  
"Ugh, just another government conspiracy," Krystal shook her head, "Come on, let's go." Tails got up, but he pocketed the picture of Amy and the request.  
  
They raced back out the base and into the landing field. The cement slabs were broken and cracked, but they looked okay for takeoff or landing. Tails found Alex's ship easily; it was the one with a picture of a mean- looking lion on it, just like Alex described. It was an Invader IV class, one of the latest and fastest models yet.  
  
"Hey, this thing only seats one. Aren't you coming with me?" Krystal asked. Tails shook his head. Krystal frowned slightly, but understood anyway.  
  
"HEY!" A loud voice called. Tails and Krystal spun around to see a swarm of Venomian troops heading toward the base from the forest. It looked like some draft army. They were all scattered around in no particular order. About five hundred, Tails guessed. Tails took out his rifle and aimed it at the army.  
  
"Come on!" Krystal shouted, dragging Tails onto the Invader. Tails shrugged her off and dumped her instead into the cockpit. He clamped her arms down as he pressed the autopilot sequence for Venom on the dashboard and closed the canopy. She screamed and flailed against him. Tails waved goodbye as her jet flew off. The thick glass canopy muffled her yells and pleas.  
  
"You were a good friend."  
  
'When you leave me, When you turn away, That will be when, My aching heart will pay.'  
  
Tails heard the words playing in his mind for some unknown reason. The footsteps drew nearer, and when Tails turned around to look, they had already surrounded him. A blue falcon drew a pistol and...  
  
**Temporarily Krystal's point of view**  
  
Well, I couldn't do anything; he set the autopilot to let up after I escaped the atmosphere. I turned my head to look back at the disappearing ground. They were all around him, but he wasn't raising his gun or anything! A blue bird, which I can barely distinguish as wearing a corporal's uniform, held a pistol up and... He fired! Tails dropped down on the ground in a crumpled fashion.  
  
I couldn't say how long it took me to get back home, but in my mind, it took almost forever. When I landed back on Venom, it seemed that there was a rebellion. Everyone, even the women and children, were shooting at the remaining Venomian army. Andross managed to escape his palace and fly off to somewhere unknown, but we burned down the main political buildings and killed a lot of Andross' advisors and generals. They ended up surrendering within a month.  
  
A month after the rebellion on Venom ended, there was news from Corneria that the Katinian reinforcements had arrived and they crushed the Venomian army. A week later, a message from the president of the United Planets of the Lylat asked us if we, Venomians, would like to join the Confederation. We, of course, agreed.  
  
I didn't hear anything of Tails after the war, but the death toll on Corneria and Venom, including civilians, numbered over four thousand. Most of which were bombings, but I could just imagine now, Tails, among the countless dead, being buried in a big hole with all the others.  
  
Today is the mark of three years after the war. I still remember Tails' friendly face, his smirk and his enthusiasm, but his bravery, above all. Many people say he was merely repaying a debt. I saved his life, and he, in turn saved mine. Whenever I tell someone the story and they respond by saying that, I would touch my folded staff, still strapped in a leather pouch behind my back. I kept a secret from him, and now I regret it with all my heart.  
  
Towns are being rebuilt. Those identified soldiers were given proper funerals. Life went on, but I live on with the knowledge that Tails was one of those unidentified people. No one knew of his brave deeds. No one knew how he sacrificed his life for mine.  
  
Tails is always on my mind. He will always be there. No matter what I do, his warm features would come back to haunt me. He will always be in my memory.  
  
Even though I still think of Tails, there is something else that bothers me from time to time. What was that Amy Rose girl about? Why was she ordered to go under the command of Tails' uncle? Every day I look in the papers for Amy Rose. I search the Internet for Amy Rose. I ask around the entire system for Amy Rose. I guess it's just my idea of pointless knowledge.  
  
**  
  
A/N: Another tragic death. Yeesh, people are gonna come after my blood now. Now, I wonder why Falco shot Tails. How did he get out of the prison? Ha, ha! I'm gonna continue, don't worry. 


	11. Yogurt girl, Begin Part 2

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prowler or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either.  
  
  
  
Well, me, some blue furred creature with a liking for yogurt, found a job. I actually found a job! Not an employment involving the deaths of others, of course, but something common and more peaceful. After I left Venom in search of a better life and a reputation other than leading the rebellion on Venom, I thought Zoness, the popular tourist location, was best.  
  
Being a hotel receptionist wasn't that bad, I guess. I got good pay (six credits an hour, which is three times minimum wage) and I met lots of interesting people. I've been at it for a month by now and already I'm employee of the day! It's wonderful, in my opinion. My boss was a really cool, young dog. Thick golden fur, shining blue eyes... I thought about dating him once, but I thought better of it. He reminds me of someone who I used to know. Tails...  
  
"You okay, Kris?" The janitor, Mr. Alborne, asked. I nodded my head and leaned down over the desk, pretending to be busy writing, when tears were going down my face. Everyone calls him Al, but we don't really know his first name. He's about thirty and he enjoys working here for some reason. He said a happy person on vacation makes him happy, too.  
  
To keep my mind off my old and deceased friend and savior, I looked around the place, examining everything in it. There was the desk, where I was, next to the stairs. The floor was grand marble with a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Everyone used to bug my name with that thing. The hall was very tall, with marble columns around the circular room. One door on my right lead out to the streets, while the other sliding window on my left lead to the swimming pool. There was a Persian carpet in the room's middle. A big, red one, to be more accurate. Pots of exotic plants and couches lined the edges of the room. There was an old, rich skunk sitting under the sunlight from the sliding window, reading a newspaper. The desk that I was in was made of heavy oak. Behind me was a big shelf with tiny spaces for the magnetic card keys to the rooms. In front of me on the half-circle desk were lots of papers and registration appointments. So far, everyone was on time. But it was only noon, so I shouldn't push my good luck.  
  
"I know something's eating ya, Kris," Al said, pushing back his heavy, brown hair and looked intently at me with his observing feline eyes. I looked away again, but Al heard a sob with his pointy ears, "Okay, if you don't want to talk about it..."  
  
Al shrugged and went upstairs with his bucket and mop. Not your average mop, though, one of those new ones with ionic charges that threaten to suck up almost anything loose on the floor. Once, it caught to my uniform black pants as he went by, whistling a merry tune. It took hours to get off.  
  
I sighed as I watched him go, whistling a new music line today. He gets them from some unknown source, and it served him by giving him a new song every second day for the past fifteen years. It's amazing how little things like that can surprise you. I tugged at my itchy black jacket and shirt. I wonder why the head honchos leading the hotel line want us to wear polyester. Polyester, for crying out loud! Nothing good comes out of polyester. At least I was allowed to keep my hair as it is. Still those shiny locks that clung hopelessly in my eyes as I work. Everyone thinks I look better this way, so I just stick with it.  
  
You might wonder why I'm not going to school. Well, since I'm fifteen now, I should be in high school, right? Nope, I graduated high school on Venom when I was fourteen. The principal allowed it, since I just got straight A's no matter what the teachers threw at me.  
  
"Hello."  
  
I looked up, startled, to see a figure with sunglasses come up to the reception desk. I cleared my throat and wiped the tears from my eyes.  
  
"Good afternoon, ma'am," I said, putting on a friendly smile. I assumed she was female because of her smooth, medium-high voice. She was also wearing a large sunhat that blocked any other facial appearance on her. That wasn't very uncommon, but what was uncommon was that she was wearing a heavy cloak. I couldn't even see her paws because she wrapped them in white gloves. I guessed that she was from Katina. Katina had hotter weather than Zoness but it had half the sunshine. That was probably why she was wearing so much and having a sunhat to top it off.  
  
"Do you have a room reserved for Amanda Rinquest?" She asked politely. Something about this girl told me she was my age or so. I picked up the reservation booklet and flipped through the pages.  
  
"Just a sec," I told her, scanning the pages from most recent. The girl drummed her fingers on the desk and peered around the hotel, apparently impressed. I found her name a few moments later. She had reserved a single room months ago, "Yes, I do. It has already been paid for."  
  
I pushed on the desk and my moving chair spun back to the shelves. I picked out a single-suite room card and swung back, handing it to the girl. She smiled, but the expression was covered by the sunhat.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Your welcome. Room 451 is on the fourth floor, third hallway and turn to you left," I smiled back. She walked slowly up the stairs, to the Rec. Halls and the elevators. I sighed as I marked in my mind another happy customer.  
  
I leaned back on my chair, my head clear from Tails for a moment. Al came back down the marble staircase to go and mop the walks of the swimming pool. He stopped at my desk for the usual chat.  
  
"Hey, I saw a weird dude going to the elevators. Wearing a big cloak, he was," Al muttered, "Most peculiar." I couldn't help but giggle a bit.  
  
"It's not a 'he'! She's pretty nice, after all. That's only the third customer today that smiled at me," I leaned back a bit more on my chair, "I'd think she's from Katina or somewhere."  
  
"I'd, too," Al breathed in a deep breath and went off to the swimming pool. I watched him go, leaning back a bit more. I gave a frightened yelp as my chair tipped over and threw me into the shelves. I could hear Al laughing his head off. I threw a mint candy and him and he ducked out. The old skunk picked up the mint curiously and ate it.  
  
The telephone jangled impatiently. I picked up the receiver and put up my best, sweetest, teenage voice.  
  
"Good afternoon, White Stone Hotels, how may I help you?" I asked, stifling a laugh myself as I heard another teenage voice reply. A boy's, and he sounded real smitten with my voice box.  
  
"Uh, hi. Um, I'd like to, ah, order a room, erm, single, mind you, for a, uh, Mr. Lombardi. Uh, yeah," he swallowed. I bit my tongue to keep my laughter down. I could hear a few voices arguing over the line. I heard another voice yell at the first one for being such an idiot. A few clicks and shouts were heard as the second voice wrenched the phone from the other. I just wished the president of this line of hotels would just order videophones. I giggled as the second cleared his throat.  
  
"Sorry about that," he said. His voice was a bit clearer and lighter than the other's gruff, deep tone, "I... I mean, we would like to reserve a single's room for Mr. Lombardi, first name, Falco. He'll be in by tomorrow. He has red eyes, if you want to recognize him by that."  
  
"Sure-"  
  
"Hey!" The second one shouted as the phone was again stolen. The first voice spoke up ended up winning. I really had to put a fist in my mouth to stop giggling.  
  
"No problem," I said in my most seductive tone, "See you later, hon."  
  
"Uh," I heard him shudder in delight, "Sure. Bye, then." He hung up. I burst out laughing the moment I put down the phone. The old skunk looked at me in a strange-eyed glance. I was still giggling uncontrollably as Al waltzed back in, still whistling. He gave me a cockeyed gaze, too.  
  
"What up?"  
  
"I thought I'd never see the day when a guy would find himself in love with a girl's larynx!" I went back into hysterical laughter mode as Al shrugged and went back upstairs.  
  
I stopped for a second when the old skunk went over and asked for another mint. I gave it to him. In that lapse of choking, I thought that the second voice sounded somewhat familiar. After the skunk went up to his room, I forgot about the voice and went back to giggling like a little schoolgirl.  
  
**Third person. One day later, 6 o'clock**  
  
Falco cast a look back at the black hover van parked across the street. He straightened his T-shirt and his blue jeans. The sun was still blazing hot and Falco needed water. He coughed a bit and pushed open the double glass doors to the enormous, white-marbled hotel.  
  
"Hey, this place is nice," he said softly. A voice zapped to life near his ear. The earpiece was almost invisible, but Falco could still feel it.  
  
"Yeah, I would think," his partner said through his microphone in the van, "This place is so expensive that the General nearly flipped when I asked him for the money." Falco chuckled at his friend's oddness.  
  
"No, I mean that it's really nice," Falco muttered as he approached the desk. A brown cat janitor was whistling as he swiped the floor with a cool-looking broom. A person was at the desk. She was wearing black, just black. Falco didn't think it suited her.  
  
"Hi," she looked up. Falco nearly choked on his spearmint gum. It was the same girl he talked to on the phone. She had sleek blue fur and bright blue strands of hair that hung near her eyes. A fox lady, no, a foxy lady. Her delicate features were enough to make him break a sweat. She was more beautiful than he had thought.  
  
"Uh... Yeah, I'm... Oh, God," Falco tugged on the collar of his shirt. He must've swiped the tiny microphone that was hidden in the fabric because his partner yelled at him through the earpiece.  
  
"I'm thinking that you're Mr. Lombardi?" She asked, smiling. Falco just nodded and sweated more. She swung to the shelves behind her and handed Falco a card key. Her paw brushed against his hand-wing as he took it, making him stutter more.  
  
"Um, okay, uh, thanks..."  
  
"465, fourth floor, fourth hallway, take the right," she giggled. Falco opened and closed his jaw and mumbled incoherently. She giggled again and waved him off. Falco found himself smiling like an idiot and waving back.  
  
"What was that about?" His partner hissed. Falco shook his head to get himself back to the ground  
  
"She is HOT!" Falco muttered back. His partner just snorted and gave a forced chuckle.  
  
"The girl's in room 451. Ya better be careful, Falco, the enemy has probably stationed here already."  
  
"Are you sure it's her?" Falco asked, trying as to seem like he was just commenting to himself. People who saw him just nodded and smiled. He smiled back, just pretending to be another friendly tourist. On the way up to the fourth floor, the only person who didn't smile was a graying skunk who's eyes had a bit more shine than other old people.  
  
"I'm positive."  
  
**First person Krystal**  
  
I'm sure I have seen that bird somewhere else before. Somewhere...  
  
"The corporal," I whispered to myself. He was the bird who shot Tails! I looked back after him on the stairs, but he disappeared. No, that couldn't be him. There were lots of exotic birds in the system. Most of them have blue plumage, no big deal. He was nice, after all...  
  
"That wasn't him," I said firmly to myself. Al looked at me curiously, still cleaning the floor. I blushed and busied myself, "Nothing, Al."  
  
**  
  
A/N: Hey, what's Falco doing here? Who's his partner? Oh, let me think... Peppy? No way. Katt as a zombie? Nope. Tails? Well, now that's going a bit overboard. I'm not that crazy, after all, bringing a dead person back to life. All I can tell you is that the old skunk dude is more than he seems. 


	12. What kind of an idiot uses an old skunk ...

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prowler or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either.  
  
  
  
"Wow, this is a nice place," Falco whistled in interest at the queen- sized water mattress, the big screen TV, the balcony and the Jacuzzi, and the ivory toilet. He threw his blaster gun on the bed and flicked on the TV.  
  
"Aw, why can't I get in there?" His partner whined. Falco chuckled cruelly and switched on the massage button on one of the lazy-boy armchairs and groaned happily. He just got another annoyed growled from his partner; "I hate being in the van. I've been in the van for nearly two years. Next time, you get to be in the van."  
  
"Van, van, van," Falco snorted, his golden beak clicking as he chewed on a mint form a large bowl.  
  
"Get to work, Falco," his partner sighed, "Get Amy and let's go."  
  
Falco sighed and stood up. Taking his blaster and shoving it back in a hidden holster behind his back, he opened the door and went out. Room 451 was a corner and three rooms away, so Falco didn't have much trouble locating it. He knocked smartly on the door and a cute voice, alert, called up from behind the door.  
  
"Who is it?"  
  
"Room service," Falco shouted back, "We think your Jacuzzi is broken."  
  
"Right," Amy opened the door with a click and swung it open. Falco immediately grabbed her mouth and shoved her inside, swiftly closing the door behind her.  
  
"Good, but not too good," Falco shook a finger. Amy breathed heavily under Falco's feathery grip, her eyes open and alert. She seemed to have changed out of her cloak and was wearing a scarlet skirt, just like the one she wore over three years ago. This time, though, it looked a bit better on her.  
  
"Who are you?" Amy asked, her voice muffled by Falco's wing. Her pink quills shivered and stood up on end, signaling attack when she gets the chance.  
  
"Agent Lombardi. I'm a friend," he winked at the fifteen-year-old hedgehog. He had to admit that she was pretty. Amy Rose relaxed a bit, but her quills were still erect and deadly. Falco let go of her mouth but remained his vice grip on her arms.  
  
"Who am I to be transferred under?" She asked, testing Falco. He grinned.  
  
"You WERE to be transferred under Colonel Brophy, but he's dead. You're to go with us," Falco smiled. She nodded and got up, her quills shifting back into her long fur. She had the most unusual pattern: Really big, single clumps of spiky fur running vertically down her back. Falco thought she looked cute.  
  
"I have to get out of here," she whispered, her bright green eyes glinting with fear. Just that moment, a skunk barged into the room. It was the old skunk that didn't smile at Falco, but he wasn't old anymore. It must've been gray makeup he smeared on his fur, because he was now completely gray-free. He gripped a blaster in his gloved paw. His brown jacket didn't make him look threatening, but his eyes hinted otherwise.  
  
"Move!" Falco shouted as he shoved Amy out of the line of fire. The skunk shot laser after laser. Falco nearly dodged them all, rolling this way and that, but one caught his left wing and it started to bleed torrents of warm, red liquid. Falco grunted in pain as the skunk started at him, amazed by his shot. In that millisecond, Falco drew his gun from behind his back and fired a hole right through the skunk's head. His brain particles splattered all over the door and the hall's wall.  
  
"Smooth move," his partner said sarcastically over the line. Falco groaned and held his wing. In her fright and shock, Amy rolled into a razor- filled ball and smashed out of the window. Falco gasped as she pummeled down, but was saved by a bush of some kind. She rolled away from sight after that.  
  
"Damn it!" Falco yelled, running out. His partner gave him instructions that he didn't really need. He was down the marble staircase and out the front door in a flash.  
  
**First person Krystal**  
  
The first thing I heard was gunshots. A lot of them, to be exact, they were pistols, too. Startled, I jumped up and alerted security by pressing a button under the desk. I didn't need to; they were already swarming up the stairs.  
  
What was most peculiar, though, was the blue bird that checked in almost a moment ago running at top-speed over the heads of the security guards. His wing had been shot and he was cursing at the top of his lungs. He crashed (quite literally) out the front door and into a white van waiting outside. It drove away quickly.  
  
I should say that I was scared out of my wits, but all that time on that battlefield hardened my instincts. I rushed up the stairs and followed the security guards to the fourth floor. There, I found a dead skunk lying in front of room 451, the strange girl's. His blood was still flowing out of him when I arrived, staining the white carpet with red and specks of gray from his brain. I actually snorted in disgust at the officers who threw up at the sight. The strange girl was nowhere to be found, but her cloak was on the couch.  
  
That was my first objective: To search her coat for her identification. There was none, and when I was going to hand it over to the police, I noticed a single strand of fur near the collar. It was pink.  
  
"Amanda Rinquest... A.R... Amy Rose!" I whispered to myself.  
  
**Third person Falco**  
  
Falco winced as his partner bandaged his wound for him. The hole wasn't that bad. Most of the damaged areas were feathers and organic film for the feathers. Falco frowned as his partner tied it up a bit too tight, but he went on with his history book without another word.  
  
"She's at the police station," the other guy said, his face hidden in the shadows of the van. Nighttime was a strange time.  
  
"No," Falco lowered his book to look at his partner, who just abandoned his wing to look at the satellite radar; "The cloak is at the police station. I planted the locator device on her cloak a while back."  
  
"You should've put it on her shoe or something," he snorted unhappily. Falco just shrugged and went on with his book.  
  
"Hey, did you know that a thousand years ago, the Japanese thought that foxes could take on human form after years of self-cultivation?" Falco sneered, looking at his partner, "Who would've thought that HUMANS would take on FOX form after years of self-cultivation?"  
  
"Are you being specieist again, Falco?" His partner glowered, his pointy ears twitching on what Falco had to say. Falco's sneer grew wider.  
  
"Well, I've got a lot more up my sleeve. Why the heck does your name sound like something off of a speedometer?" Falco chuckled. His partner sighed in disgust and typed up rapidly on the keyboard.  
  
"Why the heck does your last name sound like some native tribe off the coast of Qatar?"  
  
"Jeez, just kidding with ya, man," Falco rested his head on the back of the driver's seat, "Hey, how come ya never go to them clubs with me?"  
  
"I'm lucky enough I passed junior high with AC, IB, and Honors, or else I wouldn't be here. I'm not gonna ruin my perfect record to get drunk," the fox muttered. Falco rolled his eyes.  
  
"You are one strange dude. You never hit on hot girls..."  
  
"'Cause I don't have a reason to.  
  
"...You never have fun..."  
  
"'Cause we have work to do."  
  
"...And ya never go on missions with me."  
  
"'Cause ya won't let me."  
  
"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that," Falco spun on his rotating chair, "Man, you should've seen that receptionist. She was so hot!" The fox rolled his eyes.  
  
"I could tell by the way you drooled all over your shirt," he joked. Falco sighed and jumped into the driver's seat.  
  
"Buckle up, man, we're going to ask the world for Amy Rose."  
  
**First person Krystal**  
  
I sat in the night air, the wind blowing in my face and the rain pelting at my bare arms. My shirt was soaked and my pants were dripping down rivers. At least the wind was hot and the air was good, or else I'd be a Popsicle by then. Hover cars whooshed by, their exhaust blowing more dirty water in my face. I was really angry by then, but I waited and waited. Because I knew that Amy Rose would be here.  
  
I followed the strips of turned land from her rolling. I saw ambulances where people have been gored by her sharp and long quills. I followed the trail of destruction, basically. Accidental destruction, actually, from a little girl at her wits end in fright. The trail turned cold at a cheap motel somewhere in the outskirts of the little town I worked and lived in.  
  
I don't understand how she could've trashed so much stuff. I've never seen any other hedgehog do that before. I asked the people who had been pinned. They said they couldn't explain her power, either.  
  
Well, anyway, so there I was, sitting on a bus bench in the middle of nowhere, waiting for a pink hedgehog. The motel manager said she went out for dinner or something. I waited in the room for half an hour before the janitor drove me out here because he needed to clean.  
  
Outside here, it was brightly lit by street lamps, but the motel and several other buildings were shaded in the dark. Black shadows crept upon me until I realized that they were tourists trying to get out of the rain under their umbrellas. One fellow frightened me so much when he sat down beside me I nearly screamed. To pass the time, I bought some yogurt at a nearby general store; strawberry yogurt, my favorite. It must've been really bad luck for me, because just as I opened the glass door outside again, I saw a shadow creeping towards the motel.  
  
At first, I thought it was Amy, but since the streetlight in front of the motel was busted, I couldn't tell. The shadow was walking away from a white van that had parked itself near the motel. Amy wouldn't hitch a ride. I realized that before the guy neared the light from the window of the motel. He had pointy, orange ears and a swishing, orange tail tipped with white; a fox, no doubt. It wasn't anything weird, after all. Lots of foxes went this way and that on Zoness. Red Foxes and Gray Foxes are more accustomed to warm weather, so I guess it would only be natural for them to vacation on Zoness. Curious anyway because nearly no one else went around these parts, I followed him in.  
  
I didn't want to be seen, so I unfolded the collar on my cloak and put on my cap. I pushed open the door, trying to act natural. A friendly ding and a dong rang out as the motion detector for the door was triggered. I sat down on one of the waiting chairs lined up near the right-hand wall.  
  
"Good evening, sir," the raccoon at the desk greeted. She was wearing a casual T-shirt and pants, protected by a cheap, painted plywood desk marking off nearly half the room. Like me, she had shelves of keycards behind her.  
  
"Hi," the fox replied, "I'm looking for Amy Rose. Is she in right now?"  
  
My ears perked up a bit as I heard her name spoken. I buried my nose in a magazine, but I still listened intently. His voice was familiar somehow.  
  
"I'm a friend of hers. I was supposed to meet her for dinner, but I couldn't find her at the restaurant."  
  
Of course! He's that cool, calm voice on the phone next to Mr. Lombardi. I didn't know he was a fox. I couldn't see his face, but I could tell from his tail and his ears that he was a young guy. About my age, probably. I wanted to talk to him and joke about Falco's antics, but I didn't want to blow my cover.  
  
"Oh, you must've missed her then," the raccoon said, "She went out around half an hour ago. You might want to try the restaurant again, hon." I saw his tail droop slightly in disappointment.  
  
I shook myself slightly and scratched at my arm. It was late spring, and it was shedding season for me. How stupid it was. Why couldn't my fur just learn to keep in one size? I twitched a bit and I saw a few strands of my fall to the floor. The fox turned and walked towards the glass door. On the way, though, he stopped. He looked down, squinted his eyes, and bent down. He picked up a strand of my blue fur.  
  
**  
  
A/N: Did I say in an earlier chapter that Fox wasn't gonna be in this story? Well, whatever. IMPORTANT NOTE: I know that in the game, Falco has blue eyes, but just for the heck of it, I'll make his eyes yellow, 'cause it just will be so much cooler. 


	13. Strand of hair

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prowler or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either.  
  
  
  
Well, you're probably wondering why the fur part is such a big deal. People these days can get DNA out of almost anything. If they found my DNA in that hair, well, they'll be able to trace me. They'd KNOW someone like me, who works at a high-class hotel, wouldn't ever even dream of going into a crappy motel. I kept my head down as he looked at me. The only part of my body that was visible would be my snout, which is snow white. He'd probably think I'm a ferret or something, hopefully.  
  
He muttered something incoherently and stepped out into the rain without a second glance at me. I let out a sigh as he left.  
  
**Third person Falco**  
  
The fox slid open the van door and climbed in. Falco gave him a look as he plopped down in a rotating chair.  
  
"Did ya get her?" Falco asked, starting up the van and driving off aimlessly. The fox sighed.  
  
"No, but I found something else," the fox placed the strand of hair on a small, glass vial and stuck it in the machine, "Remember how all us special children have special attributes and physical appearances?"  
  
"Yeah," Falco said over his shoulder as he did a smooth U-turn and went back towards town, "Amy's got pink fur, I've got blue feathers, Katt's..." Falco stopped and sighed miserably.  
  
"You've got to stop thinking about Katt, Falco," the fox muttered as the machine started the gene analyzing process, "As much as she could've been valuable to us, she was still a good friend. One bad thing about her that I would assume, though..."  
  
"What's that?" Falco said, his voice trailing off. The machine the fox was in front of beeped as it found a match. It would take a few more seconds for the entire dossier to be displayed.  
  
"Her jumping skills," the fox chuckled, "Remember how she used to sneak up the balcony to your apartment to surprise you? Oh, and that once when she caught you in your underwear! That was a riot."  
  
"Hey," Falco smiled as he remembered, "How'd you know that? You didn't even know Katt!" The fox just grinned. A moment later, his smirk was wiped off.  
  
"She... She's..." he stuttered. Falco took a glance back at his partner. His smile grew wider.  
  
"Yeah, she's hot, huh?" Falco said, unaware of what he meant.  
  
"What?" The fox spun away from the picture of Krystal; "She's that receptionist at the hotel?" Falco frowned for a second.  
  
"She's one of us?" His jaw dropped. The fox nodded slowly. Falco punched the air in excitement.  
  
"Yes! She's the last one, too! Do you know how long the agency's been looking for the last one?" Falco whooped, "Less work for me, more cash for us. Not to mention a hot girl to work with." Falco winked at his reflection in the rear mirror of the hover van. The fox sighed.  
  
"Why get these people anyway?" He mumbled, "All we'll do is suicide missions after the team is constructed. Say, why was she in that motel anyway?"  
  
"Maybe she's looking for Amy?" Falco suggested. The fox's ears twitched slightly. His heart skipped a beat.  
  
"She remembered."  
  
"Huh?" Falco asked stupidly. The van turned around a corner into a restaurant. Falco set the van down in a parking space between an empty block and a red sports hover car. Falco unbuckled his seat belt and turned around to face his partner, "You know her?"  
  
"Yeah," the fox said quietly. Falco just smiled more.  
  
"Well, even better. Maybe she'll trust us more if she knows you, Tails."  
  
"I hope so," Tails replied, his double tails swishing idly behind him. He gently tucked the second one into his left pant leg and followed Falco into the restaurant.  
  
**  
  
Tails sniffed the air, twitching his nose unhappily. A few raccoons nearby were playing poker and smoking. According to the look of the waitress, a mole, she didn't really like it either. The people sitting in the other eight tables also twitched their noses and coughing. While, turning to the waitress to order some fries, Tails noticed a figure dressed in a heavy black raincoat chewing slowly on vegetables.  
  
"Falco, look over my right shoulder," Tails whispered. Falco obeyed in the least suspicious way. His golden hawk eyes shined a deep red for a second, signaling that he was using his special gift: Near 20/5 eyesight, which was amazing, even for a falcon, which is why he was named one of the special children.  
  
"Yeah. That coat was out of fashion years ago," Falco smirked, eyeing the annoyed look on Tails face, "Okay, okay. She's got a stub of pink poking out of the collar. I know its Amy, don't have to say it. Just to tell ya, those aqua contacts kinda stick out."  
  
"Well, one, it's Amy all right, and two, they're green, non- prescription contacts to avoid suspicion and I don't know why they're always blue," Tails snorted, blinking hard to re-adjust the bit of plastic, "Do you say we just get her?"  
  
"We'll talk," Falco said simply and got up from his chair, his feathery leg brushing on the silk fabric of the tablecloth as he went. Tails followed, trying to act normal if they were just saying hi to an old pal. They've been following Amy and protecting her for the past two years, so she's sort of an acquaintance.  
  
"Hey," Tails said nonchalantly, sitting in a chair opposite to Amy. Her green eyes twinkled as she examined him. She nodded, pulling down the collar to her raincoat. Falco sat lazily in a chair beside Tails. Amy had been eating broccoli.  
  
"Jeez, how can you stand that stuff?" Falco fake-retched. Amy glared at him.  
  
"Ah, you," she grinned, "How's that wing?" Falco flapped it around to say that he was fine.  
  
"Now, Amy, for the fourth time in six months, are you gonna join us or not?" Tails asked, getting down to business. Amy turned to him, stuffing another stick of the green stuff down her throat.  
  
"Remind me what we are and what you do," she commanded. Tails sighed and leaned back on his chair, thinking of a good way to start the story.  
  
"Well, around fifteen years ago, there was a plague infecting the entire system. Although it was easy to cure, people still caught it and got sick for days. Scientist now believe that it was a virus able of certain performance enhances if infected into a pregnant female. The offspring, given certain time for the virus to take effect, would undergo very minor, but positive mutations. There were five of us when the plague happened. Falco, Katt, you, me, and now, an old friend, Krystal were the 'special children'," Tails dropped his voice as the waitress came over with a slight frown and a platter of fries and ketchup. Falco stole a few as Tails continued, "The virus itself was rumored to have been created on another solar system, maybe Krystal's, and spread accidentally to the Lylat, but that's irrelevant. The mutations can range from speed, extra limbs, greater eyesight, greater hearing, and perfected strength. Falco has eyesight, I have an extra tail, you have your deadly quills and your strength, and Katt had her speed and jumping skills."  
  
"What about this Krystal girl?" Amy asked curiously. Tails pondered on that question for a moment.  
  
"We have no idea, but she's probably already figured it out, because she seemed to always be hiding something from me while we were traveling together," Tails pulled back his triple bangs from his eyes as they kept sticking, "Now, together, we can be deadly weapons. That's why both sides of good and evil have asked us to join. Some of us made the wrong decision through our greed for power."  
  
Falco slumped his shoulders at that and busied himself with stealing more fries. Amy gave him a smile of forgiveness and he caught it, blushing like mad. Tails chuckled and stuff a few more fries into his mouth and sharp teeth.  
  
"Fight with us for good, Amy," Tails made a fist, "Fight with us to rid the galaxy of evil."  
  
"Well, I'll go with you," Amy said slowly. Falco looked up in amazement, almost crying out "YESYESYES". Tails smiled and urged her to go on, "Evil cannot be rid. As long as we live and live in the world goes on, there will always be evil. We can cripple evil, but we cannot destroy it."  
  
"Good philosophy," Tails nodded, "I like the way you think." Falco just sat there, one arm over the oak chair, trying to look cool, totally dumfounded.  
  
"Uh, like, I don't get it?" Falco muttered.  
  
**  
  
A/N: I hope that explains something. Sorry for the X-Men rip off, but come on, it's not X-Men in any related way, after all. Didn't I have to say at least SOMETHING about the conspiracy? 


	14. Peacekeepers

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prowler or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either.  
  
  
  
"Whoa, cool spy stuff," Amy commented as she entered the van. Indeed, there was anything you'd need to get information out of illegal sources. There were satellite dishes to super-sensitive radars. Tails nodded and shrugged. Falco jumped into the driver's seat again and too off.  
  
"Where to, man?" Falco called behind him.  
  
"Uh, just wait," Tails muttered. The screen on the videophone beeped and Tails flicked on the machine. General Pepper's face sizzled before them. Amy shoved Tails a bit to get a good look at her new commanding officer.  
  
"Good evening, General," Tails said. Amy nodded as if to say the same thing.  
  
"Uh, you too, Miles. Nice jacket," he replied. Tails looked at his dark green cloth jacket. General Peppy cleared his throat, "I see you've enlisted the help of Ms. Rose. Well, I need you three on a mission in Northern Corneria."  
  
"But sir, we know where the last of us is," Tails objected. General Pepper shook his head.  
  
"This is an emergency, Miles," he coughed, "No, you must get to Corneria immediately." The screen turned to static after that. Tails whacked the chair that he was sitting on.  
  
"Oh, well, Tails," Falco called from the front, "We'll get her later."  
  
"She's too smart to stay in one place," Tails whispered, "She would know danger's coming her way.  
  
**Four months later**  
  
"Status, SP one."  
  
"Status: Okay. Proceed."  
  
Tails grunted in response and unscrewed the bolts on the ventilation shaft. Throwing glances behind him to make sure that no one was watching him, Tails got the metal square out of its place and squeezed in. After he shoved his entire body inside the shaft, Tails replaced the shaft cover using a magnetic screwdriver.  
  
"I need the blueprint of the building, SP three," Tails said into his com-link. Amy responded by making a holograph of the skyscraper. Tails pressed a tiny button on his com-link projector and the building blinked transparent except for the outlines of the floor plans. Three blue dots, one on the main floor, one in the basement parking lot, and one in the fifth floor. Tails was the one on the fifth floor. A whole bunch of red and green dots also blinked to life. The red ones were the fraction of terrorists holding the entire city hostage with a hydrogen bomb the size of Falco's van. The green dots were the civilians held hostage. Pressing another button on his link, Tails made the vent outlines materialize before his eyes. Looking forward into the metal crawlspace, Tails went on and took his third right.  
  
Tails was wearing a black leather suit that gripped his skin. His entire body was covered except for his ears, eyes, and tails. A utility belt was strapped onto his waist and an advanced com-link was on his head. The holograph projection that was centimeters from his face faded as he crawled on, trying to stay as quiet as possible.  
  
"Hold it right there, SP two!" Falco hissed. Tails stopped in his tracks. Falco sighed in relief; "Ya nearly blew the entire mission. Take out the compressed nitrogen gas from your belt and spray some in front of you."  
  
Tails, utterly bewildered, obeyed. As he hissed a little stream of white gas in front of him, six, crossing infrared lasers came into view. Tails whispered thanks to Falco and took out what looked like tiny mirrors on delicate wires from a small pouch and stringed them up in all the places where the diagonal lasers were being emitted. The mirrors reflected the light back and Tails was free to go on.  
  
"SP three, have you figured out where the bomb is yet?" Tails asked. Amy took a while to respond.  
  
"Yeah, it's on the forty-sixth floor, but the remote is on the seventy-ninth. We should split up, SP two. I'll take the blowing-upper and you get the remote," Amy replied. Tails gave a 'hmm' in agreement.  
  
Tails found the ventilation access to the elevator shaft and kicked it open. It swung easily out and on its hinges on the bottom, but it hit the concrete wall with a thunderous crash. Cursing his hastiness, Tails took a look up and down the elevator shaft. It was terribly dark, but little lights were on in case of emergencies. They shed enough luminous energy to let Tails see the main elevator speeding up towards him. Acting fast, Tails jumped onto the cable hooked onto the elevator and slid down slowly. His cotton-bottomed shoes made absolutely no sound on the cold metal of the elevator. Tails wrung his hands gingerly in burning pain and shook off the grease. Tails was able to hear a conversation between the passengers on the elevator.  
  
"...Yeah, if the Cornerian agents show up-"  
  
"They won't. We've got the place surrounded by heavy artillery."  
  
"They have stealth ships."  
  
"Yeah, but those are SHIPS. We'd be able hear them, you dimwit!"  
  
Tails rolled his eyes in disbelief. If terrorists were this dumb, they'd have peanuts for brains. Even stealth ships can seal off the sound from their engines. And jeez, what good would heavy artillery do against a single agent? They'd either miss or do no damage if the agent was using shockproof shields. Too bad Tails didn't have one on.  
  
The elevator whirred to a stop at the seventy-seventh floor. Tails jumped into the vent shaft there and crawled. It didn't take long to reach the vent for the stairway. Tails, with the help of Amy's blueprints, jumped down the shaft a minute later. Tails was just finished nailing the bolts back on the cover when he heard heavy footsteps coming down from the seventy-ninth floor.  
  
**First person Krystal**  
  
I bolted straight for the hills of ice and snow. The Venomians took a while to regain their senses after I cuffed them on the sides of their heads with my staff. They didn't dare shoot their guns, but they still kept yelling that they would use force if I ran.  
  
My mind raced back to the day it all started a month ago. I had left Zoness for Fortuna because I knew I was being followed. Wherever I went, there always seemed to be a particular person on my heels. I started getting strange phone calls about the torn history of Venom and how I served under its military. No one should've known that; I left that bit of my past in a deep pit of my mind a long time ago.  
  
I immediately thought of Fortuna because of the scarcity of people living there. I thought the emptiness would provide a cover for me, but frankly, it wormed me out too soon. Two Venomian soldiers, still loyal to Andross, found me in my little town. I was working in one of the greenhouses when then crashed in. I raced out the moment they started shooting the innocent bystanders. I know I should've done something, but my mind told me that I was more important. I had tripped in the outskirts of the high-tech town I was living in. They caught up to me and started ranting on about how I should join them. I thwacked them both on the sides of the head and just ran.  
  
They started shooting! They actually started shooting. Maybe it was because they didn't want to hit me, or maybe it was merely because their aims were really bad, but the lasers still missed me by a longshot. I didn't have to fire back at them, but I did once the squadron advanced from the other side of the hills.  
  
The cold snow crunched beneath my feet as I stared at the oncoming ground soldiers. They were heavily armed with all sorts of tranquilizer devices and other paralyzing weapons. I gulped as the ten animals reached within firing distance, but they were far from getting a good shot. Looking back at the two soldiers who were closer to me, I fired little bolts of lightening at them and made them fall. I didn't really want to kill them. Facing the squadron again, I had more ambitious plans for them. I liked having a bit of fun.  
  
Raising my staff above my head, I brought it down in a sweeping cut in a horizontal line. A wall of fire sprang up right in front of the soldiers. They stopped dead at the six-foot tall flames licking the sky and melting the ice under them. It was most simple converting magic into fire. It was simply a matter of energy exchange. Since magic is a sort of very condensed potential energy that can be recharged, I can convert it very easily into thermal energy. Making people rise from the ground and flying was a harder concept to achieve.  
  
"Hey, ya wimps!" I yelled triumphantly back at them as I sprinted back to the township, "Let's see ya get me now!" I knew I shouldn't have said that.  
  
Some soldier must've been really ticked off at my insulting, so he just decided to shoot a stray tranquilizer my way. Lucky for him, I hit my arm. I wrenched it out as it injected the dosage. It was rather minor if it only got half into my bloodstream, but I would still fall asleep for a few minutes. The firewall would only burn for a few more seconds.  
  
I felt dizzy and uncoordinated, but I could still see. Over the hills, I saw the firewall disintegrate into nothing and the squadron rush towards me. Panting, I brought up my staff as if I was going to impale the earth. Chanting a little spell I learned fourteen years ago, I struck the ground with my staff. There was a shining blue light as I felt my body jerked into a distant place.  
  
Fortuna was too isolated, and Zoness had way too much security. No doubt, the best place to go now was the most crowded planet and the least place for checking DNA: Corneria. It was only logical that I would go there for my own protection. Destination: Northern Corneria.  
  
Teleportation rules.  
  
**  
  
A/N: Now both of our main characters have their own little adventures. I know its getting a bit too far ahead into the future and it may sound confusing, but come on. I like Tails, and how did he not die? Why is Falco working for General Pepper? Well, questions will be answered once Krystal catches up with Tails, probably in two more chapters. 


	15. Marcus Prower, you're hiding something

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prowler or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either.  
  
  
  
"Whoa!" I yelled as I fell down a few meters onto the cement. A few people gave me curious glances, but went back to their business: Watching some kind of commotion. Teleportals can do that sometimes, making you fall on your butt, I mean.  
  
Groaning as I got up and rubbed my behind, I followed the gazes of the other people. They were all looking at a huge skyscraper over downtown. I'd been here before, so I kinda know my way around. A few people cried out and pointed, dropping their daily groceries in the process, at the top of the tower of glass windows. A bunch of idiots were at the top of the building, near the lightening needle, shooting lasers into the dark, night air.  
  
"Wot's going on?" I slurred to a nearby brown cat. The tranquilizer was still in my bloodstream. It usually takes a few minutes to teleport, and I must've fallen asleep halfway across.  
  
"Yo, what have you been drinkin', girl?" She replied, "You looked like ya got hit by a truck."  
  
"Maybe I did," I shook my head energetically to clear it, "So what's up?"  
  
"Terrorists," she shrugged, "Ain't much of a bit deal yet. As long as da police and da military stay outta there, they ain't gonna blow up da bomb." I raised an eyebrow.  
  
"The bomb?" I asked. I must've looked pretty stupid, because she gave me one of those examining looks for those people who you think went and sniffed drugs. Well, I did look rather stupid, I suppose, dropping out of the sky wearing a thick cotton jacket in the middle of summer right into a downtown commercial street full of people wearing shorts. I also had thin snow clinging to my staff and paws, which looked oddly like cocaine in the midnight moon. The cat shook off that notion when it melted in the heat.  
  
"Yeah. They've got one of 'em hydro bombs," she shrugged again, "I wouldn't worry if I were you, girl."  
  
I sighed as the cat slipped away into the crowd. Knowing how dangerous the situation is, I decided to check out the whole thing myself. I folded up my staff and tied my jacket over my waist and set off.  
  
**Third person Tails**  
  
Tails froze in place, his feet not wanting to move. Remembering his cloaking device, he switched the little button on from his belt. His paw, along with the rest of his body, became no more than a smear on the wall. Soon, three of those terrorists marched down the stairway, chatting away.  
  
Tails slid slowly to the corner of the square-spiraling staircase. As the three neared, Tails inhaled a large breath of air and held it there, praying that they wouldn't find the strange smudge of distorted light. Luckily the three went by without a second glance at the wall.  
  
He waited until their footfalls disappeared from hearing range, then Tails flicked off the cloaking device and went on up. Switching on the holograph again, Tails noted that the device was on a table not far way from the stairway entrance. Maybe he could just barge in and shoot them all down. That was the best, but he had to wait for Amy to deactivate the bomb.  
  
"Yo, SP three," he whispered into the link, "Are you done with the bomb?"  
  
"This thing is more complicated than I thought," Amy whispered back, "I have to diffuse it canister by canister, just because the remote device is on each of the fifteen. I'm up to eleven."  
  
"Am I allowed to break silence?"  
  
"Sure," Tails could almost hear Amy smile her devilish grin, "That's what I did to get to the bomb, with a silencer on my machine gun, of course. According to SP one, the remote is more heavily guarded than the bomb, so be careful, okay, SP two?"  
  
"Yeah," Tails couldn't hide the blush in his face from Falco's link cam. Falco's gonna blackmail him for that later, he knew it. But before that, down to business!  
  
Pulling out his machine gun from his belt and loading it with a click, Tails jammed the silencer on the back end of the gun, where the mechanism for the laser starts. Tails read about older bullet guns that put their silencers on the nozzle, where the bullets come out. The silencer he just put on was to muffle the sound from the laser.  
  
Taking in a deep breath, Tails counted to three. When he got to two, however, the door smashed open.  
  
"What the-" A dog stared at Tails. Out of instinct, Tails brought the gun up to his stomach and fired two rounds. The dog gave Tails a horrified look and dropped down, two gaping, smoking holes in his lower abdomen. If it weren't for the fact that Tails had two months of Green Beret training, he would've puked.  
  
The sound of the shots, small as they were, alerted the twenty other people in the room. Tails could see the remote, a small green box no bigger than a computer monitor that stood on a stool, to his left side of the hall. Directly in front of him was the night sky. Several bright lights from the distant buildings shone in. The lights were on, but Tails was thankful that the lights were dim enough so he couldn't see the faces on his enemies.  
  
Shots fired, lasers going across the room and hall. Tails ducked behind two desks and shot wildly towards the general area of the remote. From the frantic screams of the terrorists, he could tell that he hit four of them. There were yells from both sides as they shot at Tails. Their bad aim and the thick oak desks were Tails' savior.  
  
"Whoa! What's going on up there, two? Don't let them touch the remote detonation device. I still got three canisters here!" Amy panicked.  
  
"Chill out," Tails said calmly as he returned fire. He shot a few of them in the heads and blood poured out of their craniums. They were bunched together so tightly that Tails could just throw a grenade. Well, that there is a good idea.  
  
Tails dropped to the ground and took a small cylinder from his belt. 'Warning, explosive contents', it read. Tails rolled his eyes and pulled the pin. Counting to three, he chucked it to his right. A second later, it blew with a thunderous crash. Three of the large windowpanes that were the walls to the outside shattered. A few of the terrorists screamed as they pummeled out and down to the city below. Taking a quick peek from his hiding space between two computer desks, Tails smiled. Fourteen down, six more to go.  
  
Tails reloaded his gun and jumped out from behind his hiding space. A few of the terrorists were reaching for the remote, but Tails wouldn't let them without having them scream in agony.  
  
"The merciless demon of death," Falco commented. Tails shivered a bit at what he had just done. Regaining his posture in a millisecond, Tails stepped carefully towards the remote. Wait a sec... Where's the sixth dude?  
  
A glass shard snapped behind Tails. Unshaken, he pulled his pistol from its holster. Without even a look back, he whirled his paw around and shot. A scream and a thud signaled his bulls-eye laser. Falco whistled, impressed. Tails didn't smile, but remained his hard expression.  
  
"Hey, I've got one more canister," Amy said, "Keep them away from the remote. They're coming for ya, two."  
  
Just as she finished her statement, the stairway door burst open and surly looking terrorists emerged. Tails assumed that they were the rooftop snipers for police helicopters, judging by their bazookas.  
  
In a quick motion, Tails swept the remote under his arm and jumped out the window, just as two rockets blew up behind him, shattering more windows. Bad for Tails, a shard caught him in the arm and the remote dropped from his paw, down nearly two hundred feet into the cement pavement below.  
  
"Damn it!" Tails cursed.  
  
"Uh-oh," Amy said, "The sequence is set to two minutes now, two. Those terrorists knew what they were doing in case the remote was destroyed. The last canister is set to blow!"  
  
Tails dived down to where Amy was, nearly fifty floors below. At the last moment, he braked using his tails as propellers. A shocked Amy Rose watched, next to a large case and fourteen diffused canisters of hydrogen, as Tails waved at her.  
  
"Pass it!" He shouted over the radio. Amy kicked the glass and it broke a hole through. Tails noticed the dead bodies lying around Amy. She threw the canister carefully to Tails and he caught it with a jerk of the paw. She shouted "Good luck!" as Tails rose steadily toward the roof.  
  
"One minute, two!" Falco said. Tails only grunted as he strained to fly faster with his tails. Like a helicopter, Tails made it to the floor that he wrecked. A few of the rooftop snipers watched in utter shock as Tails smiled in sarcasm at them. Tails dodged an well-aimed rocket from a terrorist as he landed on the roof.  
  
"Throw it!" Amy cried. Tails obliged, chucking the canister with all his might into the moon. With five seconds to spare, Tails watched as the canister blew up in an amazing display of orange and white, lighting up the darkness of the night. Tails felt the explosion before he heard it, being blown back a few feet into the staircase door. Tails groaned as he clamped his ears to stop them from ringing. Coughing miserably, Tails was drenched with hot mist from the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen converting into water.  
  
If as to add to his bad luck, the stairway door behind him smashed open. Tails himself screamed and was thrown over the edge of the building. Tails decided to fell the cool wind beating against his fur before he broke his fall with his tails.  
  
Mission: Complete!  
  
**First person Krystal**  
  
The people around me gasped and pointed in awe at the explosion. I felt the heat, even from my vantage point a mile away. The explosion was deafening. The police searchlights shone on the roof, where I could just make out a lone figure getting hurled off the rooftop. The light followed him down until... He stopped his own fall by flying! A bird, no doubt, but there was a particular way that his wings were flapping.  
  
They were flapping like a helicopter's blades. There was only one person I knew that could fly like that, but he was dead. Miles Prower was dead.  
  
I ran to the scene where police and reporters were swarming over him, asking questions. A few policemen even handcuffed him. As I neared the place, I noticed that in the bright lights, among that chatter of the people, that he wasn't Tails. No way, not the scrawny little kit I found in the rubble. This fox had muscles and real, powerful paws. His hard expression was nothing like the Tails I once knew. When he turned to get out of the crowd, I noticed that his eyes were a very bright green, almost aqua. He was the guy in the motel.  
  
"You!" I shouted. He looked up at me in surprise. He smiled slightly at me, "What's your name?"  
  
"Marcus Prower," he said. I stared at him. Maybe he was Tails' brother? Surely he wasn't Tails. Tails never told me his family history except that his parents were dead and that he had a dead uncle. He never said that he had a brother. For all I know, there could be a gang of Prowers with two tails roaming the streets and saving lives.  
  
He turned away to get in a white van. As the door opened, I noticed a blue falcon and a pink hedgehog in there with him. Falco Lombardi, Amy Rose, and Marcus Prower. How typical. I had a feeling that we would meet again, and next time, I would get some answers out of him about Tails.  
  
**  
  
A/N: Maybe Krystal is wrong, and maybe she's not. You'll find out later, anyway. 


	16. The shadow in the dark

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prowler or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either.  
  
  
  
"That's one nasty bruise," Amy said in a worried tone, "You might have something broken."  
  
Tails pulled his arm away from Amy in disgust. Falco snorted as Tails dodged Amy's attempts at bandaging a shard wound. Everyone knew how much Tails hated being pampered over because of a simple cut. Falco wouldn't mind that from a lady, but Tails... He was a different story to be told.  
  
"Stop it!" Tails screamed as Amy caught his paw in her own vice grip. She took the roll of medical bandage from her pocket and ripped off a string, although the little puncture of skin wasn't anything a Band-Aid couldn't handle. She purposely tied it really tight just to watch Tails flinch, "Ow!"  
  
"Wuss," Falco sneered. Tails gave him a glare. Falco shrugged it off, "And what kind of name is Marcus? Sounds like something from Shakespeare."  
  
"For your information, Lieutenant Lombardi, the name Marcus is derived from the Roman emperor, Marcus Arailius. I thought it sounded dashing," Tails added as an afterthought, "Besides, officially, Miles Prower is dead. A Venomian corporal who was on the run from prison camp shot him. The corporal himself was killed later in a bombing."  
  
"Ah, call yourself Major-General Hans if you like, but the fact remains: Miles Prower framed his death," Amy grinned, "He was never shot. What he was hit by was a stun gun."  
  
"Hey, that's G-14 classified information, ma'am," Falco joked, "Besides, Private Prower didn't frame his death; I did it for him."  
  
Amy gave him a little slap over the top of his head, telling him that there was no such thing as G-14 classified. Falco shrugged anyway. They wouldn't dare talk like this in public. For all they knew, the person sitting at the next table in a burger restaurant might be a spy or an assassin.  
  
"What's the briefing on the next mission, Falco?" Tails asked, fidgeting his arm uncomfortably in his bandages. Amy thought it would be funny to wrap him up like an Egyptian mummy.  
  
"He wouldn't know," Amy said coldly, "He was out at a bar when General Peppy called in."  
  
Falco's blush was visible even through his blue plumage. Scratching his head in shame, Falco started to file folders and stack them in a cabinet in their small apartment. The general thought downtown was the most discreet place possible for their operations. No one ever came there, and anyone who actually lived there was considered either crazy or half- brained. Either way, the fact remains; the place was a filthy rat hole, especially with an old mouse lady running the place.  
  
"So?" Tails drawled, trying to get an inoffensive answer from an offensive hedgehog. Strangely enough, Amy had a tough attitude and a shopping addiction to match. The two, one anti-girly and the other being complete feminine, actually suited Amy, in a way.  
  
"We need to stall a illegal weapons transporter," Amy shrugged, "Not a big deal. We're just going to be there so he doesn't try anything stupid when the patrols come up. We also need to verify what he's got."  
  
"You're forgetting something," Falco piped up in a singsong voice. Amy rolled her eyes.  
  
"Yeah. The mission is taking place on a luxury frigate," Amy sighed, as if being on a cruise was her last idea of fun. In Tails' mind, the word frigate and the adjective luxury didn't go together, but this was Amy. Everything she thought had something to do with war.  
  
"Aloha-oi, aloha-oi," Falco sung. Amy shut him up with a whack over the head with a rolling pin from the kitchen drawer.  
  
"First of all, you're off-key. Second, we're not going to the Hawaiian Islands. We're going to the Bering Islands, halfway from the planet on where the Hawaiian Islands are," Amy sighed at Falco's ignorance, "Romantic, but not with this guy around."  
  
**First person Krystal**  
  
I quickly got a room at a hotel, hopefully not attracting too much attention. It was a cheap one, well within my expense rate, but it was cozy and comfortable nonetheless. The first thing that popped into my mind as I flopped down on the double bed was to open a few of the going away presents from my friends back on Zoness.  
  
You're probably wondering how I got those when I was teleporting. It's quite easy, actually. All I had to do was to cancel my half-destroyed apartment and force the landlady to mail me all of my stuff. The carriers only took a day, since warp drive is possible without the gravitational interference of our sun.  
  
I kicked off my shoes (bought those) and snuggled up warmly on the bed. Outside, the occasional hover car went zooming by below on the street. I could also hear the soft thwacks of someone playing tennis downstairs in the court, but it was nearly inaudible anyway. The room was small, with just one cabinet, a bedside table, a little TV, a couch, and a bed. I had to go down the hall to use the bathroom.  
  
Most of the presents came in forms of wishing-well cards and little trinkets like the pens that I used and a little bobble-head figure of our boss that he made himself. But one envelope from Al was particularly heavy and thick. Curious, I opened that immediately, to find something I truly didn't expect.  
  
'Fortuna is really cold, so I thought you might want to take a vacation somewhere. I thought of here on Zoness would be the best, but you're probably bored of this place anyway. So, from us all (but from my wallet), is this little ship ticket that should warm you up. Hope you don't mind having to pay the fare to Corneria!'  
  
I smiled and turned back to the ticket. It was a thick booklet with a laser-printed, black and white ticket for the Bering Islands on Corneria. The cruise was to include three stops around the main ocean and five days of ocean spray. I've always liked the ocean, even though I never got a chance to properly sail it. Sure, I've got the occasional wind boat ride from a dog or cat that was flirting with me, but a real cruise! I could hardly conceal my excitement.  
  
My worries about the Venomians on my heels just vanished in that instant. The ticket had no expiration date, although Al probably wanted the cruise for a few months ago. I wanted to go as soon as possible, since Corneria had the most clean and fine oceans, next to Zoness, of course.  
  
I jumped out of my bed instantly. Being a girl, after all, I needed something to wear. My smile twitched for a moment as I realize that I had to buy something, and the stores won't be open until tomorrow. Oh, well, the cruise is tomorrow, too, so I guessed I don't have to panic about leaving that night. I was dead tired, anyway, so I just laid back and slept. Two things happening in the same second... That must be a record.  
  
**  
  
"Um, um, you a fox, right?" The little pup at the ticket booth near the edge of the ship asked, standing on the tip of his toes to see over the counter. I guessed he was no older than seven years old, but hey, lots of little kids find jobs these days.  
  
"Yeah," I smiled. He returned the smile, but on his little sheet of paper to keep track of the passengers, he marked a tally on the category labeled "Faukz" in messy scribbles, next to "Daugz" and "Katz". He must've had a problem figuring out the O's in his writing. I noticed that there weren't many passengers aboard. I estimated only a hundred on the massive ship. Most people went to the Hawaiian Islands at this time of year. The rarest species on the ship must've been the avian race, because in even messier writing, the column "Falken" was put in, scrunched at the edge of the paper, looking like it was added as a last ditch attempt to fit everything on one piece of ironed fiber. There was only one tally on the crudely drawn rectangle. I really didn't understand why he couldn't use a laptop.  
  
"Yep. You've got cabin number fifty-six on the, uh, C-deck," he scowled a bit as his pen fell off the counter. As he went to retrieve it, I heard a string of mild curses along with bangs and shaking. He got up a second later and mumbled something in his British accent. I was shaking with laughter myself as I boarded the metal plank up to the big ship, the afternoon ocean spray in my hair and splashing onto my case. Truly something bad has to come out of something this good, I thought. I was both wrong and right.  
  
**  
  
I saw him first the night of the second day.  
  
The ship hadn't stopped anywhere yet, but an island paradise was scheduled for the next morning and another one was set for the next afternoon. The sea was still as salty as ever and the waves still beat on the hull near my cabin. I guess I just had to get a drink.  
  
My throat was parched, probably because I ate too much salted fish that afternoon. Throwing back the silk covers on the queen-sized bed, I stumbled to flick the light on. Rubbing my eyes furiously, I squinted against the harsh 60-watt bulb. Oak furniture was all there was. There was an oak cabinet, oak bedside table, oak-framed closet space, oak bed frame, and an oak chair. Outside the little pothole on the side of the metallic cabin, I saw that there was a fierce storm brewing.  
  
I jiggled the knob on my door a few times before I realized I had locked it. I fumbled with the lock handle with my tired fingers and it unlocked with another click. Still half-asleep, I wandered upstairs to the A-deck for a drink of water. I hardly felt the cold metal floor against my bare feet until I slipped and tripped on the carpet to the dining room.  
  
"Hey, you okay?" A guy asked near the bar. I picked myself up, still half-asleep, and waved him off with a shake of my paw. I didn't even look at him. Lucky for me, I had my nightgown on; or else I'd be the laughing stock of the ship.  
  
Groggily, I got a plastic cup and filled it by the water barrel (the plastic kind). Gulping it down, it hardly made me less sleepy. I think I drank four cups before I tossed the cup away into the garbage, but you don't really keep track when your eyes are puffy and you're miserable with joint pain.  
  
Maybe I fell asleep halfway back to my cabin, but at some point, I stumbled outside. The cold rain and the howling wind beating at my face sure woke me up that time. Shivering uncontrollably, I cursed myself for eating three pounds of salt-dried tuna. Wave after wave pounded against the starboard side of the ship. Every time Mother Nature did so, the ship rocked violently and the ocean water splashed on my face. It wasn't long before I got soaked both of rainwater and saltwater.  
  
Reaching behind me, I cursed again as I found out that the door was locked to the outside. I sneezed twice and slipped on the freezing deck. I fell hard on my bottom and my back slammed into the door. I felt my eyes water with pain.  
  
The thunder clapped.  
  
Lightening lit up the skies.  
  
There on the bow of the ship, right at the edge of the railing, was a figure.  
  
The flash of light in the darkness lighted up a figure whose face was unseen, but his orange fur was visible for just a fraction of a second, his pointy ears twitching at the loud thunder.  
  
His two tails were swishing idly in the rain.  
  
**  
  
A/N: And that just tells you how this little cruise is gonna get more complicated. Woo-hoo! I know the last part was a bit cheesy, but my head wasn't screwed on right at the moment. 


	17. Assasins in black

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prowler or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either.  
  
  
  
"Marcus Prower!" I shouted at him, but my voice was lost in the rain and the wind. I rushed towards him, my head suddenly clear. He didn't hear my yells for him to look my way. About halfway across the deck, I slipped and skirted along the steel deck. In too much pain to get up, I propped myself up on one elbow and shouted some more.  
  
Suddenly, a huge wave crashed against the side of the ship.  
  
**Third person Tails**  
  
Tails heard a scream from behind him. Turning to look, he saw a figure in a white robe tumbled in the rocking of the ship. She was thrown up in the air and landed with a thud on the rail. Her head smashed on the steel bars and she went unconscious.  
  
"I guess it's up to good o' Tails to save the day," he muttered as he skidded towards the starboard side of the ship. The waves still pounded relentlessly on the hull, throwing Tails this way and that, but his strong feet kept him in place. The figure was just about to slip out of her place on the rail when Tails caught her by her fluffy, bushy tail.  
  
Tails let out a sigh of relief as he locked his feet in place to the railing. Grabbing a hold on her foot and spinning himself into a horizontal crouching position, he pulled. The girl was a lot lighter than he thought, and she came back up through a gap in the rail easily. Tails gasped as he recognized her face.  
  
"Krystal, you clumsy idiot," he said, not caring if she could hear him or not. Checking her wounds, he noticed that the side of her head was swelling up quickly and was bleeding. Blood gushed from the wound as Tails tried to clamp his paw over it. He wasn't much of a medic himself; he needed Amy for this stuff.  
  
The ship rocked even more furiously. Tails tried to keep still, but the pounding and the slipping made him roll his eyes at the annoying nature of sea weather. Picking Krystal up in both arms in a gentle form, he spun his double tails and flew around the ship to the second door.  
  
**  
  
"She followed us?" Falco asked, totally bewildered. Amy was staring at Tails, too, but more in a worried expression.  
  
"I don't think so," Tails shrugged, "She might've just wanted a cruise."  
  
"I thought that vixen at the bar looked familiar," Falco mumbled. He quickly covered his mouth with a feathery wing, giving Amy a sidelong glance. She scowled back, obviously disapproving of him drinking while he was supposed to help Tails with the check.  
  
Kicking off his red sneakers and laying down on the bed, Tails sighed and scratched his arm. He delivered Krystal safely to the infirmary, and the doctor was only too happy to get an assignment. He then turned right back to their cabin on the B-deck for an update after he checked the cargo for nuclear weapons. Apparently, the reports were accurate.  
  
Their cabin was first-class, so it had a lot more space and luxuries than the passengers did on the C and D-decks. There was a flat-screen, plasma TV and a stereo stashed on one side of the room, and there were three king-sized beds on the other. The bathroom door was located beside Tails' bed, which was farthest from the pothole side. The room service was free, and there were candy wrappers and sausage bags thrown carelessly on the floor to prove that Falco liked all the attention.  
  
"What the heck were you doing on the bow of the ship in this weather?" Falco asked. Amy, apparently, wanted to know the same, trying to feed Tails a spoonful of cough medicine, just because he said he had a sore throat that afternoon. From the look on Falco's face, Tails guessed he would've liked Amy fawning over him and feeding him stuff more than watching Tails being treated like an emperor.  
  
"Just trying to get a smell of cold, sea air," Tails said quietly, not wanting to admit that he actually was looking for something. It would've been ludicrous to just say to Falco that he sensed there was trouble brewing at their next stops. Falco, being Falco, would just laugh and make stupid jokes about fortune telling.  
  
"You could've caught a cold," Amy whined. Tails gave her a look to shrug her off. Just because he was the youngest one on the team doesn't mean that she had to be so concerned. Although Tails kinda liked treatment from females, Amy's treatment seemed a lot more motherly than anything else.  
  
"Well, ANYWAY, I found four bombs, just like General Pepper said," Tails rolled off the bed and picked up half a pepperoni stick that Falco forgot to eat. Nibbling it slowly using his sharp teeth, Tails thought for a moment, "You don't think our terrorist friend is going to plan to detonate them anytime soon?"  
  
"You'd never know until he reveals his ambitions," Amy snatched the stick from Tails and tossed it in the garbage can, "And sometimes, it may be too late."  
  
"Wise words, Amy, wise words. I really like how you think," Falco said as he leaned against the wall. Amy scowled at him.  
  
"Stop trying to flirt with me," she growled, "If you're going to do it, just do it properly."  
  
"Wise words, Amy, wise words," Tails chuckled.  
  
**First person Krystal**  
  
I don't know how long I was in the infirmary room, but I think I missed the first stop. I woke up in a clean, white bed with the disgusting taste of salt in my mouth. The room smelled oddly of medicine and iodine. As I moved to get up, I noticed that I had lost feeling in my left paw and my right temple throbbed painfully.  
  
"What year is it?" I asked. The doctor turned from his cabinet to look at me. He smiled at me and walked over.  
  
"I hope the injury wasn't that bad," he chuckled, "As soon as you get something to eat, you can go."  
  
I squinted against the bright lights at the doctor. He was a raccoon, but his fur was lighter than most of his kind. He was also very tall, nearly half a head taller than I was. He had a clipboard in one paw and a tray in the other. He set the tray on my stomach.  
  
"What time is it?" I asked, ignoring the food. My mouth was screaming for me to not feed it anything; my tongue felt very numb. The strawberry yogurt looked kinda good, though.  
  
"Noon. You've been asleep for twelve hours," the doctor scribbled something on the board as I picked my paw up. I could still move it, but not without considerable pain. Well, it's nothing that magic can't fix. Magic can fix almost anything, unless if it's when a living being needs something filled, like a bullet hole or a lost limb. Then, a part of my magic connects with them to make that new flesh. I helped Tails that way.  
  
"We're at port?" I craned my neck behind me to look out the window/pothole. As I looked, the ship lurched forward and the dock disappeared along with the tropical island, "Well, not anymore, I guess."  
  
"It's too bad you missed it. That island had some of the best coconut milk around," the raccoon smiled to himself, his eyes gleaming a bit. I guessed he liked coconuts. I myself find them very bitter and too tangy. Too much yogurt can erode your tastebuds, I think.  
  
"Hey, can I get out of here? I promise I'll eat something after I get this taste out of my jaw," I pleaded. The raccoon doctor thought for a while and scribbled something on his clipboard, giving me an approving nod. I pushed the tray onto the bedside table and swung off the bed. I found my salty robe by the doctor's desk. I quickly changed out of my gown in the bathroom and draped my robe on myself. I'd have to bear the embarrassment, I guess.  
  
Well, lucky for me, no one saw me in my robe. The infirmary was thankfully on the C-deck, so I found my cabin without anyone snickering at my unusual way of dress. After I changed into proper clothes (a T-shirt and shorts) I went down to the dining room, the foul salt in my mouth almost gone. On my way, I noticed a mean looking dog gang that I didn't see on the ship before, but then again, I don't see anyone much. They were wearing black leather jackets and black sunglasses. They all seemed to stare at me as I went by.  
  
Shivering slightly at their cruel glance, I walked faster toward the dining room, trying to shake off the feeling that they wanted to hurt me.  
  
Everybody wanted to hurt me.  
  
**Third person Tails**  
  
"Hey, Falco, do you recognize those guys?" Tails asked, being as obscure as possible from the group of bulldogs wearing black. He picked at his chicken as if there was nothing wrong, but his eyes flickered in Falco's direction. Falco, once again, looked over Tails shoulder, his eyes flashing red for just a moment.  
  
"No, and I think they stole my outfit," Falco pecked at his seed pie, but didn't say anything else. Tails looked at Amy, sitting beside Falco on the other side of the table and asked her the same question.  
  
"They look mean, and I don't think I've seen them before," Amy shook her head, "You don't think they're stowaways, do you?"  
  
Tails shrugged and eyed the other passengers in the room. Most were laughing and chatting unconcernedly, chewing on their meat and drinking wine, but a few were listening attentively to the sax player on the stage. Everyone clapped warmly when he was done, but Tails noticed that the dogs in black didn't. Tails' eyes spotted a blotch of blue on the other side of the large hall.  
  
"She got out of the infirmary," Tails mumbled to himself as a bunch of cats at the table behind him roared with laughter at another's joke about the three birds and the genie.  
  
"Eh?" Falco said through a mouthful of pie, spraying Amy with sunflower seeds.  
  
"Nothing," Tails sighed, turning back to his grilled chicken.  
  
**  
  
Tails stopped for the sixteenth time to empty his sneakers of sand and gravel. Falco and Amy, both wearing sandals, rolled their eyes. They were able to just kick their slippers and the sand will stream right out.  
  
The tour went right through the beach, the tide was slowly rising and was tanning the shore with dark, wet salt. The tropic palm and coconut trees dotted the right side of the clean beach, and there were occasional stops for food and souvenirs. Amy just couldn't miss the chance of buying another small shell and adding it to her collection. General Pepper wasn't going to be happy with the bill that comes back to the base.  
  
The sand was as clean as white chlorine, but without the terrible smell. The ocean crashed on the rocks and reef, throwing fine spray into the air. All the passengers were scattered around the place, and Tails had no idea where to find Krystal. He also was looking for the dogs in black.  
  
They were easier to find.  
  
"Look, two of them are going into the forest," Tails nudged Falco. Falco turned just the slightest to glance at the dogs.  
  
"And two of them are going back," Falco shrugged, "Who cares?"  
  
Tails ignored him. As Amy dragged Falco off to see a cute owl doll, Tails slipped into the shadows of the trees and followed the two who were going back to the ship.  
  
**  
  
Tails spun around. The footsteps seemed to stop right in the middle of nowhere. The ship was still a long way off, but the tour group was out of his sight for a long time now. There were clear imprints of heavy boots coming off in a diagonal line toward the ocean, but they stopped halfway through.  
  
All of a sudden, Tails felt a pistol being pressed to his head.  
  
"If it ain't the legendary Miles Prower."  
  
**  
  
A/N: Uh-oh. Tails seems to have fallen into a spot of trouble there. Those bulldogs... Maybe they're more than meets the eye? 


	18. Liars

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prowler or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either.  
  
  
  
Maybe it was a bad idea to walk in the forest alone.  
  
I don't know what I was thinking. Maybe a little tropical bird, an unevolved species, distracted me. Maybe I just wanted some time alone. But anyway, right then, there were two of those mean looking dogs on either side of me, and I didn't have my staff.  
  
"What do you want?" I demanded, although my voice was trembling with fear. They only smirked. They both were brandishing pistols and had that look in their eyes that they were about to do something fun.  
  
"Your cooperation, Captain," the first dog, the one with the deep brown fur rumbled, "In return, you walk away with your life." I flinched as he brought the gun up to my neck. My attitude had worn dull after three years of boring secretary work.  
  
"Captain," I thought for a second. I hadn't been called that in a while, "I'm thinking you are loyal to Andross?" It was more of a statement than an answer.  
  
The dog's grin grew wider as he pressed the gun harder. I felt my throat gurgle, but I didn't dare emit any sound. I was still able to breathe, but it hurt for the nozzle of the gun to be there.  
  
"Well, Captain?" The second dog (with pitch-black fur) asked, "Your answer!"  
  
"No," I managed to wheeze. The two dogs frowned, and I knew that wasn't good.  
  
The first one shoved me back into a palm tree and pressed the gun even harder on my throat. The second on got out something that looked like a cross between a lab needle and a shotgun. He stuck the point of the weapon in my arm and I yelped in pain. The needle was as thick as my forefinger.  
  
"If you don't want to help us, you'll help us anyway," the second dog sneered as he pulled the trigger, sending some kind of device into my bloodstream. I winced as I felt it enter my arm. The brown dog pulled his gun away and pushed me off. Just as I was about to run away, the black dog pushed a button on a remote and my body convulsed with pain.  
  
I screamed and I flailed. The black dog laughed hysterically at me as I twitched on the ground. He let go of the button, and the pain was gone. I gasped for air as I tried to get up.  
  
"Going to help us properly now?" He asked politely. I would've spat at his face, but my mouth was numb. I flinched again as he pulled a dagger from his belt and held it up to my face. Instead of jabbing me in the eye, he pulled on my hair and cut a small lock of my fringe from my head. Confused, I watched as he tied it with a string and put it in his pocket. He raised the dagger again (I flinched) but shoved it in my pocket.  
  
"Listen up," the brown dog snarled, "You are going to assassinate the two-tailed fox or else we're gonna make you scream until the end of your time. Got it?"  
  
That went through my head a lot faster than it was supposed to. Kill Marcus? No way, not in a million years. He didn't do anything yet, and that's why I wanted him alive. I needed information on Miles. I slowly shook my head. The dogs' lips curled in a menacing way.  
  
In the end, after nearly two hours of interrogation and pain, I agreed to do it. Don't take me wrong; I really didn't want to do it, but somewhere in the bottom of my heart, I wanted to feel death in my clutches again. I don't want to admit it, but a part of me wanted to see warm blood on my staff and paws. I felt sick after they left. And I felt so confused.  
  
I cried myself to sleep that night.  
  
**Third person Tails, two days later, fourth day of the journey**  
  
Tails cleared his throat and coughed again. A lone, small fish bone plopped down onto his plate. Angrily, he took the bone and threw it at the waiter.  
  
"Hey! I said fillet! Fillet doesn't have BONES!" He yelled, startling half the room into silence. The waiter whimpered in fright and snatched the plate away from Tails, scuttling away as quickly as possible. Amy was shocked, but Falco looked like he was about to crack a rib from trying not to laugh.  
  
"Damn, did ya see his face?" Falco burst out in hysterics. Amy shook her head disapprovingly.  
  
"What's the matter, Tails?" She asked quietly as Falco clamped his beak together, but was still snorting madly. Tails sighed and took a drink of his mango juice. He didn't want to admit it, but the whole ship was composed of couples going on honeymoons or such, and the captain ordered a ball tonight. It would be very weird to dance with Amy, so he'd probably be the only one (with Falco, of course) who won't dance. He told this to Amy.  
  
"I mean, that would attract certain suspicions, right? It's best if I don't dance, because I'm the least likely to raise eyebrows, so just go with Falco," Tails blushed. Falco looked like his birthday had come early.  
  
"Aw, poor Tails," Amy giggled slightly, "We don't have to go."  
  
"But the captain wanted everyone to come," Tails pretended to eat the fillet that the scared waiter brought back to hide his furious blushing. Amy agreed to go with Falco, although her scowl hinted that she might rip his eyes out if he tried anything funny.  
  
Tails scrunched his sneakers into the red carpet floor, looking around the dining room for Krystal. She hadn't been showing up for the past two days, and he thought that she might be in trouble. Tails shook off that notion. She was an ex-captain of the Venomian army. What could possibly happen to a girl with that status?  
  
**  
  
The orchestra struck up a quick and lively tune. All the couples went into a waltz fashion and quickened their paces. Tails, at the bar, was close enough to the band that he could see the beads of sweat forming on the mole violinist's brow.  
  
Legally, Tails was sixteen, but three years had done a lot to him. He was almost a head taller now and he looked like he was in his mid-twenties. General Pepper gave him a civilian identification of twenty-one years old, so it was only natural for a young dog to sit at the bar and talk to the bartender.  
  
The bartender, a short, old looking rabbit, though, wasn't talking to Tails at all. He was going from end to end, looking at the racks of wine, as if he was searching for something. Tails thought that he looked oddly familiar. Trying to strike up a conversation, he ordered a mild drink.  
  
"Eh? Doncha want something stronger? Whisky, perhaps?" The hare asked in a southern accent. Yep, Tails definitely thought this guy was familiar.  
  
"Nah, that stuff burns your throat. Actually, pop me a small glass of frozen vodka," Tails shrugged, thinking that vodka was what adults drink, "Oh, and spice it up with vermouth."  
  
"Heh, I haven't made vodka drinks for a while," the rabbit professionally flipped a large bottle onto its end and poured a small cup, "You remind me of someone, but he's too young to be drinking now."  
  
"Really? What was his name?" Tails asked, picking up the glass and emptying it in his mouth. The vodka was very strong, and he had to gulp it down as the scent reached his nostrils and clouded them. He coughed and spluttered a bit.  
  
"Yow, that stuff might be a little too strong," the hare snickered as he handed Tails a little towel, "Well, anyway, the little kid's name is Miles." Tails nearly slipped off the stool in surprise, but he caught onto the counter on time.  
  
"Geez!" Tails yelled.  
  
"Careful, there!" The rabbit grabbed one of Tails' paws and pulled him upright, "Maybe it was too strong. Here, how many fingers?" He held up his forefinger and his middle finger.  
  
"Fourteen," Tails rolled his eyes sarcastically, "I'm fine. But you say, Miles Prower?"  
  
"Yes, yes!" The hare exclaimed, "Do you know him?"  
  
"No, but the name rings a bell," Tails said quickly. Behind him, someone sat down with a swish of a pale green dress. The hare turned to her as she beckoned him. Tails nearly fell off the stool again as he recognized her.  
  
"You wouldn't be Lieutenant Peppy Hare, by any chance?" Krystal asked, giving Tails a friendly wink. He gaped at her. She was wearing something green and strapless, and she looked gorgeous. She combed her hair perfectly, but Tails noticed a very small gap near her forehead. Tails saw that the bottoms of her eyes had little circles, but hardly noticeable. Maybe she wasn't getting enough sleep. Maybe she was startled by the news of two dead Venomian soldiers found in the water. The two that he killed.  
  
"Actually, I am Peppy Hare, but I abandoned the lieutenant part years ago," Peppy smiled, "I find talking to people and going on boat rides suits me a lot better than soaring the skies."  
  
"Then you would know Miles Prower, because I'm the vixen that was with him three years ago."  
  
Peppy dropped the little glass he took away from Tails with a muffled clatter on the carpet. It didn't break, so he just picked it up again and stared at Krystal.  
  
"The Venomian captain!" Peppy whispered. Krystal gave a nod and turned to Tails.  
  
"You, on the other paw, would know Miles very well," she frowned, "Because you're his brother." Tails froze for a second as he felt Peppy's eyes turn to him. He looked hard at the chestnut counter.  
  
"Miles didn't have a brother."  
  
**  
  
A/N: Uh oh! Our Tails is in a spot of trouble! Not only is he ratted out, but also he has an undercover assassin on his two tails! *Cue ominous music* Okay... Now that was corny. 


	19. Insanity

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prowler or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either.  
  
  
  
"If Miles didn't have a brother, who are you?" Krystal asked, "I don't think there's anyone else in the system with two tails."  
  
Tails gulped hard, but didn't look up. Before he knew it, Krystal had dragged him outside, to the bow of the ship. Tails had a gut instinct that the talk wasn't going to be pleasant. He tried to look away, but she wheeled him around to face her. Tails was startled to see tears streaming down her cheeks.  
  
"Just answer me one question, Marcus," she whispered, "Are you, or are you not, Miles Prower, the one who I traveled with three years ago?" Tails turned away.  
  
"Yes," he answered in an even smaller tone. Behind him, Krystal broke down into sobs. She started beating on his chest with her fists. It didn't hurt, but it seriously confused Tails.  
  
"You stupid moron! If we were friends, you would've let me know! You lied!" She yelled and cried at the same time. Tails tried to put a paw on her shoulder, but she shrugged him off, covering her face in her palms.  
  
"Hey, I was ordered to!" Tails yelled back, getting angry with her, "Don't think for a second that I doubted your trust!"  
  
Krystal slowly put her paws down. She wasn't crying anymore, but she was still sniffling. She didn't look at Tails. She slowly brought a paw down to the bottom of her dress and lifted it up. There, in the moonlight, Tails saw a hidden dagger strapped below her knee. Getting really confused, Tails watched silently as she took it out and aimed it at her arm. Tails looked, horrified, as she slit a deep cut in the flesh. He backed away, his eyes wide, as she dug her fingers in there. She wasn't even flinching.  
  
"You should've doubted me," she whispered as she took her fingers out. Tails saw, covered in blood and tissue, was a small microchip the size of the ball on a pen. She dropped it onto the deck. Tails was a bit more concerned on the gaping wound on her arm than he was about the chip.  
  
"Krystal, what's going on?" Tails asked. Krystal shook her head furiously and brought the dagger to her heart. Before Tails could stop her, she raced over to the head of the ship. As if by her calling, the calm air quickly grew hurried and humid. In the fraction of a second, dry air turned into a downpour. Thunder clapped somewhere nearby, shining light on her.  
  
"This is where you stood before you saved me, Miles!" She yelled into the storm. Tails paused, three yards away from Krystal.  
  
"What are you doing?" Tails asked frantically.  
  
"My life is forfeit, no matter how I look at it. There are no choices for me now, Tails! The only way out is death, my style, not in the hands of the Venomians!" With that, she drew the dagger up high and brought it down quickly in her chest.  
  
The thunder struck again, and this time, there was no figure on the bow.  
  
**Six months later**  
  
Tails looked at the headstone, and nearly laughed. He desperately wanted to laugh, but all that came out was silence and a single tear. There wasn't anything of her now, only the headstone, and her staff. She had left it in her cabin; that's why she couldn't help herself.  
  
Tails knew now, that she, and Falco, Amy and him, were more than meets the eye. There was more to their abilities than just the abilities. Behind them, lies destructive power.  
  
That's why their DNA weren't like anyone else's. That's why their fur could catch on fire and blow up after they've fallen. There was energy. The doctors didn't want to tell them when they first joined the army. No, they were as confused as they were right now.  
  
Tails scoffed and brushed some snow off the gravestone, its gray figure nearly taunting and jeering at him, in the ankle-deep snow, trying to pay his regrets to a person long dead now.  
  
"Krystal, you idiot," Tails ran his fingers along the words carved into the stone. There were only two words: Captain Krystal, no more. Tails sighed, knowing that beneath his feet, there was only dirt. Her body was never found. A life, just wasted. What a pity.  
  
Although, even though Tails never got to know her very well, she was still dear to him. A part of him wished her back, although being trained in death doesn't allow you for such fantasies.  
  
"The shroud of darkness, the claw of evil, gripping the souls of the innocent," Tails whispered to the stone. He pondered for a moment where that came from, but he was told that he was going mad after Krystal's suicide. Crazy as an old lunatic from Sector Y. He would sit out in the rain, waiting for something that he didn't even know. He would make woodwork, only to trash them someplace. And especially, he was known to walk out in a blizzard only to visit a dead friend whose body wasn't even in the earth.  
  
"The void of darkness," he whispered, "The darkness..."  
  
**  
  
Tails threw his head back and laughed maniacally. The wind blew furiously in his face and the rain pounded relentlessly on him and on the cement around him. Thunder cracked here and there, but they all missed the skyscraper that he was on. The roof of the clouds. Tails felt that he could just reach up and grab one of storm clouds above him. Nature couldn't make a rainstorm in the middle of winter, but a crazy, two-tailed kitsune with atomic energy could.  
  
Tails raised Krystal's staff into the air and the storm grew even fiercer. Tails didn't feel the -26-degree weather out there, but neither did the clouds. The rain pounded even more furiously, and the storm was growing on its own. The thunder grew nearer, and Tails started to snatch all the energy around him. Maybe he did turn into a lunatic, but he was a lunatic who was able to suck the energy out of the air and turn it into his life force.  
  
The ground around him froze to ice, because he sucked the thermal energy from them. The clouds stopped moving, because he sucked the kinetic energy from them. Suddenly, lightening lit up the skies and aimed right towards the fox. Tails embraced the power. The din from the thunder was deafening, but Tails couldn't hear it; he had sucked the energy from the sound waves as well. With a quick motion of the golden staff, Tails caught the electricity and made it weave around him and the staff.  
  
The roof of the skyscraper lit up with blue energy, but it was gone very soon, because Miles Prower has harnessed the energy of the light, too.  
  
**  
  
A/N: Whoa! Tails is now a psychopath. That's rather convenient for me to write his thoughts (I was being sarcastic, if you are one of those really serious people). Oh, yeah, this part of the story is done now, and if you didn't notice, the parts are divided up into nine chapters each (the intro didn't count). 


	20. The accused, Begin Part 3

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prowler or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either.  
"Jesus Christ!" Falco exclaimed as Tails walked into the door. When I say 'into', I mean, INTO, as in 'Wham!'  
  
"Tails! You look like you've been hit by a truck!" Amy quickly buzzed the automatic door to life. Tails stumbled in with puffy eyes, dark circles under them, and a stagger. Amy bit her lip as she caught him; "You haven't been drinking, have you?"  
  
Instead of frowning, like he always did when asked that kind of question, his face split into a huge grin and he tipped Amy back, caught her with a swift arm, and planted a hard kiss on her lips. Amy screamed and kicked him away. Tails' grin grew wider as she burst out laughing.  
  
"Jeez!" Falco chuckled, "I never thought that you were interested in her."  
  
"I'm not," Tails said calmly. His expression, although, hinted that he was at drugs at a bottle per second the other night. Falco had tried that move on Amy two months ago, and he got a completely different reaction from Tails; Amy called security.  
  
The complex was carved out of colorful marble. The floors were heavily waxed, although not slippery at all. Large columns lined up the hall to the elevator on the other end. All the floors up from the main one were offices and training facilities. The large emblem on the floor that depicted the coat of arms of the Cornerian Defense Army told that much already.  
  
Tails and co. liked to hang around the security desk, just because Falco was hired there for his part-time job because of his stunning vision. Tails wouldn't be surprised if he developed X-ray eyes anytime soon. Once in a while, General Pepper would barge in on their conversations and order them to prepare for another suicide mission. Tails didn't mind the missions; it was Falco's attitude whenever he messed up on an objective.  
  
"So, what have you been smoking?" Falco asked, leaning back on his rotating leather chair behind the half-circle stone desk. He clunked his metal boots beside the new, black computer and keyboard.  
  
"Marijuana," Tails joked, "What else?"  
  
"No, really," Falco's face turned stern, "Did you read the papers this morning? Some dude was on top of the Telcus tower last night. Witnesses say he was hit by thunder. That must've been one crazy bastard. Did ya see him last night?"  
  
Tails' expression turned from giddiness into annoyance very quickly. Amy gasped as she realized what he had done.  
  
"Tails, please don't tell me you were that crazy bastard," Amy whispered. Tails shrugged and swung himself on top of Falco's desk. Falco nearly fell off his chair.  
  
"Damn, Tails," he hissed, "What the hell has gotten into you. I'll give you five minutes to run, then I'm hitting the alarm." He looked serious. Tails, however, didn't budge.  
  
"What, what's wrong?"  
  
"That crazy bastard, YOU, Tails, went on a rampage and killed fifty- six people," Amy grabbed Tails by the collar of his T-shirt, "Get out of here, Miles. We're already violating the first law of the Defense Army: Never let anything get in the way of a capture."  
  
Tails stumbled back a few steps, shocked. Falco gave him a glare. When something like this happened, there was no reasoning, even with your best friends. Even if you say you didn't do it, there's not a shred of proof. Tails shook his head twice and bolted for the door.  
  
**  
  
"Damn it," Tails muttered as a couple of police cruisers sped past his hiding spot in the alleyway. Krystal's staff was clipped to his back, but he didn't dare use that. Last night's little adventure with thunder must've overloaded his molecules. Tails was sure that they've turned blue. Instead, he took a small wave disrupter from his belt and turned the safety off.  
  
Winding the little shotgun's barrel around a few times by throwing it, holding onto the handle, Tails heard the sharp whir of the battery. Falco was dead serious; the police were actually looking for him. They were armed to kill.  
  
Tails felt tears in his eyes from the injustice. He didn't even get off the tower at night. He'd had fainted on top of the freezing place, the rain still pounding on him. When he woke up the next morning, there were icicles on his face and the only thing that kept him alive was the magic from the staff.  
  
"Tails!" An officer in black shouted. Tails spun around. He saw, on the other end of the alley were three armed men, all of them were pointing their pistols at him. Tails hesitated for just a split second before he ran out the way he came.  
  
Garbage cans around him and the brick walls were being melted and imploded because of the laser shots the guards were using. Tails was way too far to use the disrupter, so he cleared a dumpster in a single bound and made for the city center.  
  
His little crash landing on a car alerted several men behind him, and they too joined the chase. Tails threw his back on a parked red hover car and blew a blast of waves at the oncoming army. The force blew five of them back a yard or so, but it didn't do any more harm than a big pack of Styrofoam shaped like a car smash into you.  
  
"Don't run, Tails!" The leading officer, a heavily armed badger with a helmet shouted at him. Tails wound up the disrupter again and fired it at him.  
  
"Everybody runs," Tails muttered to no one in particular as he smashed the windshield of the car and hopped in. He smashed open the side of the car where the key was supposed to be and connected the two wired. The electronic engine sprang to life and made the car hover a few inches from the pavement.  
  
"No!" The badger yelled as Tails roared the car straight toward his lying figure. The badger gasped and lay back on the floor. Luckily, he got away with just a small scratch to his nose from the rear bumper. Tails yelled an apology to the badger lieutenant and sped off.  
  
"If I got a nickel for every suspect who pleaded innocent, I wouldn't need this job," Tails mumbled to himself, "And that's not including me."  
  
There were loud yells under the noon sun as every armed man was dumped into either a car or a motorcycle and were whisked away to catch Tails. Looking into the rear view mirror of his stolen vehicle, Tails noted ten of them on his trail. Smirking, he thought about how they must be feeling about now, having one of their best agents become one of their top suspects.  
  
Passerby's watched as six hover cars and five motorcycles raced each other down Wayne Street, all of them going top speed, occasionally smashing into an automatic banking machine or a telephone booth. Tails found it very easy to drive on the wide, single-lane road. Downtown shops and high-rises were on both side of him, not leaving even an inch for a car to turn into a separate street. That made it less likely for an ambush.  
  
"Oh, crud," Tails muttered as the road started sloping upward. At the speed that he was going, it was likely for the car to take off into the air and land with something two letters short of a kaboom. Tails threw a look back over his shoulder. The police cars were in hot pursuit, and they didn't look like they were about to give up. Unluckily for them, they had left a gap in the center of them, just about two meters' worth.  
  
Tails suddenly slammed on the brake, sending afterburners screeching on the front. The police cars sped by; one clipped the car and knocked off the mirror. They weren't able to brake fast enough and three of them swerved into the buildings. Tails took his chance and jumped out of the car. He ran for a building marked 'Goodfellow's Inn'. It looked abandoned for the most part.  
  
Tails hopped over a few parked trucks and slammed the rusty door after him. It closed with a tormenting squeak. Tails leaned against the door, panting. Looking out the window, he saw that the police officers were wandering around, in a daze and confused at where their suspect was. The only light that shone through into the inn was the windows and a dim lamp on the other side of the room.  
  
Racking his brain for a way out of his mess, Tails smacked his head and called himself an idiot. Pulling out his staff, or rather, Krystal's staff, he touched the glowing tip to his forehead and released a bolt of energy. There was a blinding flash of white light and a moment later, the fox standing behind the door looked nothing like Tails.  
  
**  
  
A/N: What has our precious Tails done? Oh, well. Oh, yeah, a couple of elements I stuck in there, like the disrupter gun, were from the movie, 'Minority Report'. 


	21. Rage

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prowler or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either.  
"I never thought it would come down to this," Tails muttered as he studied his reflection in the dusty mirror. His bangs were gone, replaced by a single triangular stripe of white fur on his forehead. His hair was a lot shorter and his eyes were dark green instead of blue. It was merely a splicing spell, altering his DNA until he wanted it changed back. A new identity required a new name. Andrew Boyd would come in handy again.  
  
Tails slid off his inner vest and threw it in the corner. Right after he did so, the door burst open and the badger stormed in.  
  
"Did you see a fox with blue eyes come around here?" The badger growled. Andy shook his head.  
  
"No, sir, there isn't anyone coming around here. Just an innkeeper trying to tidy up his little place," Andy put up a fake British accent and smiled warmly. The badger sighed and sat down on one of the little maple chairs in front of the bar.  
  
"I thought this place was to be demolished," he said. Andy tried to make a surprised face.  
  
"What? I've been gone a month for a vacation and look what happens!" Andy smiled inwardly at his act, "The place becomes a mess and some idiot wants to turn my place into rubble? Not that there's much left, though... You want a drink, mate?"  
  
"Eh, sure," the badger shrugged. Andy skipped behind the bar and looked around the shelf. All the bottles on the oak cabinets and the shelves were either broken or empty. A whisky bottle near the edge wasn't, though.  
  
"Aaargh! And look at what those kids from across the frog and toad did!"  
  
"Huh?" The officer raised an eyebrow. Andy grinned as he cleaned out a little glass and filled it with the drink.  
  
"Ya don't speak British English, do ya?" Andy smirked as he pushed the glass over the dusty counter, "I meant the kids from over the road." The badger snorted and drained the glass.  
  
"You British teens these days," he muttered as he got up to leave, "All sixes and sevens, hmm?"  
  
"The majority," Andy called after him as he pushed the door open. Smiling to himself, Master Boyd looked around the little tavern. It was rather old fashioned, but there were modern appliances, too. The cylindrical bulbs on the ceiling were long dead and the glass panes and the tiled floors were layered with dust and grime. The wooden roundtables and the armchairs were chipped and molding. The only thing that looked like it was not beat up was the counter of the bar. It was still fine looking and Andy could see the polish from under the thick layer of dust.  
  
Andy touched the staff under his baggy pants. He let out a sigh as he saw the vehicles departing over the other way. His heart raced again as a voice called out from the stairway.  
  
"Hey! What are you doing in my inn?" A female's voice shouted at Andy. He spun around and met the glowing brown eyes of a vixen in the shadows. She had her fists on her hips and was swishing her tail horizontally in a warning manner.  
  
"N-nothing! I just wanted a place to stay for a while," Andy gulped. The vixen stormed up to him and into the light. She was wearing a black cloak of some sort with a gray shirt and pants underneath. Her ears were twitching at every sound Andy made. Her paws were light brown and her snout was a dull gray. What right did she have to kick him out? The place was a big dump anyway, and she was at least a few years younger than he was.  
  
"And does that give to the impression that you may call this place your own? Well, well, aren't you the outgoing one, giving MY drinks to a cop!" She snarled and her tail stood on end. Andy made no move of flinching, his fear vanishing in a second.  
  
"Call me hospitable," Andy sneered, "This place doesn't have any future left in it. You heard the guy: This place is gonna get demolished."  
  
"That still doesn't give you any right to do anything to my stuff," she hissed, "And what happened to that stupid accent of yours?"  
  
"Oy, if you think a British accent is stupid, then get surgery on your larynx," Andy smirked, putting on the accent again, "You've got one anyway. Why doncha go back up the old apples and pears and get some beauty sleep, my lady?" Bad move, Andy. In a flash, the vixen had her claws clasped on Andy's neck, choking him. She had more strength than he would've ever dreamed.  
  
"You will turn around, and you will get out," she commanded. She threw him against the wall and Andy heard a bone crack out of place. Groaning, he twitched on the floor.  
  
"Hey, that hurt."  
  
"It was supposed to," she mocked. Andy didn't really want to have anything else to do with her other than give her pain. He sent a wave of magic to his shoulder blade and it snapped back into the joint. The vixen stopped dead as Andrew straightened up and cracked his knuckles.  
  
Andy felt anger. He felt like he needed to break something. With a scream, he raised his paws above his head and called his potential energy forth. His paws started crackling and fire erupted from his fingers. With another unearthly scream, he waved his hands at the vixen and a huge wave of liquid fire screeched toward her. She jumped out just in time as the liquid crashed into the wall and turned it into a hole in the cement. The wave splattered into little globs of white-hot fire and it ignited the entire tavern in a matter of seconds. The vixen gave Andy a horrified look before she ran out the door.  
  
Andy was as horrified as she was. The roof was creaking and groaning. The floor tiles bubbled in the intense heat. The whiskey bottle caught on fire and made a little explosion of its own. Andrew hurried out into the cold, icy street and watched as the licking tongues of orange incinerated the building. A huge cloud of black smoke rose up from the scene, making strange shapes in the blue sky. It was magic, horrible, ugly magic. Andy didn't bother to suck up the energy. He didn't want to. The magic had degraded himself to worse than what he was accused of.  
  
**  
  
"Crap, crap, crap," Andy kept chanting as he dodged between the alleys in the buildings. People were shouting and pointing at him, and the police were beginning to notice the yells. Suddenly, he tripped on a piece of scrap metal and rolled down the hill and back towards the station. He was stopped as he rammed into something furry and warm.  
  
"You again?" The vixen growled. Her voice was a bit shakier than the last time they had confronted each other. Andy gaped at her as she yelled for the police to come her way.  
  
"You jerk!" Andy yelled as he shoved her out of the way and continued to run. The guards seemed to forget about Miles Prower as they chased a new suspect. Andy desperately wanted to take off and fly, but that would blow his cover and make him charged for another crime. He was able to flatten his temporary single tail and wheel it around to create force, but that wouldn't do much against the motorcycles that the guards had. He took his chances with one tail anyway.  
  
Andy was at first surprised how well it worked. His feet in red sneakers barely touched the ground. A motorcycle came up beside him. The ferret with a helmet riding it was equally shocked that something on foot can beat his hoverbike. Andy rammed him off the bike and he went tumbling off into a wall. The battery of the motor blew up and took out the ferret with it. Andy winced as he smelled the burnt fur.  
  
The cops were getting a bit aggravated and were starting to use guns. Andy barely avoided a laser shot that almost took off one of his ears. He was almost in front of the Army headquarters now. A blue-feathered falcon suddenly walked into the street and got in his way. Andy didn't have time to stop himself from ramming into Falco as well. He bounced off a hover car and landed with a thud on the asphalt. Andy was thrown into one of the parking meters out front.  
  
"Hey! You stupid idiot!" Falco screeched, getting up to take a look at Andy Boyd. Tails' disguise was good enough even to fool his best friend. Falco shoved Andy out of his way as he went to get his bike. Apparently, he wanted to catch this rogue fire-loving maniac, too. Andy let out a sigh as he realized Falco didn't get a complete report on what the maniac looked like.  
  
Andy ducked into an alley and watched as the bikes and the cars sped by, chasing a fox that they couldn't even see anymore. Idiots, the lot of them. The glare from the sun must've made a little replica of a fox in front of their windshields. Andy snorted in disgust as he straightened up his trenchcoat and walked off into the wind. A hint of snow crept into the skies as Andrew Boyd walked off like a ghost in the afternoon sun.  
  
**  
  
A/N: I don't know if I made it clear enough, but currently, it is winter. Oh, in the story, too, you morons. 


	22. Losses and more insanity

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prowler or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either.  
The snow crunched under his red sneakers as he walked up to the stone. It was crooked and chipped: No way to honor a dead hero. Andy could see his old footprints, covered by a thick layer of snow. The clouds blocked out the sun, leaving Corneria in a wary shade of deep gray. Andy brushed away the snow on the gravestone as he did a day ago with Krystal's grave. Alexander Brophy, the respected colonel of the Cornerian Defense Army, lies cold as clay under Andy's footpaws.  
  
"Fear and pain aren't the only things that haunt us," the cold blizzard around him seemed to whisper. Andy shivered, but not from the cold. He shoved his white-gloved paws into his baggy white pants and stared at the stone, waiting for it to do something out of the ordinary, but it didn't. The wind still called upon the relentless flakes to pound on his face and eyes. The blizzard blew his trenchcoat like a brown flag in the unclear air.  
  
"Death is the third vile brother of the lot. Even his presence around our world may be unwanted, Death fulfills a role that the average mind cannot comprehend," the wind whispered again. Andy shook his head slowly to rid his mind of the illusions. The voices stopped, and the Northern Winds again howled in his large ears. Andy lifted his chin up and paced himself over to Krystal's grave. The wind let up a bit and for a moment, in the clearness of the settling flakes, Andy saw a figure in front of Krystal's stone.  
  
"You again?" Andy scowled as the vixen turned to meet his gaze. Her dirty brown fists clenched and unclenched, but she didn't say anything. Her cloak was specked with white from the snow and Andy saw that a bit off the end was charred. For the first time, Andy saw her clearly. She wasn't what he had entirely expected. Her brown hair was tied back in a straight ponytail, but a few strands were in her green eyes. Her orange fur stood out in her white surroundings, but her light gray fur under her snout seemed to blend in with the snow. Andy would've said she looked really nice if she wasn't after his pelt.  
  
"How'd you do it?" She asked in a quiet voice. Andy's fingers involuntarily brushed over the side of his cloak where Krystal's staff was hiding underneath. She turned back to Krystal's gravestone and muttered, "Are you a magician?"  
  
"I guess you can say that," Andy murmured, turning to the stone as well, "Did you know her?" A small smile creeped to the sides of the vixen's features. It wasn't all that cold.  
  
"A bit," she replied, "You could say that I knew her very well. I fought in the Venomian Civil War as a medic and a grenadier. She was a magician, too." Andy twitched.  
  
"What's your name?" He asked, a paw resting casually on his belt where the staff was. If this girl knew Krystal, she could blow his entire cover. Andy could tally his crimes in the past hour using a sharp pencil and when he was done, the pencil would've been blunt and dull to the wood.  
  
"What's yours?" was the only thing she said. Turning to Andy, she stood patiently for his answer. Would she know Andrew Boyd? Krystal once said that she was friends with Andrew, so would she tell this vixen about him, too? Tails suddenly felt stripped of his disguising shield of magic. One answer was all it took for him to get trapped.  
  
"Andrew," he blurted out. Andy almost wished he could brainwash that little vixen.  
  
"Ha!" She chuckled, "I knew an Andrew once."  
  
'Damn!' Andy told himself.  
  
"He was killed three years ago, almost. He lived across the street from me," the vixen smiled, "We used to play soccer together. He'd always lose, but he wasn't sour about it. That skunk always loved to try and lift me up. He didn't ever do it. He wasn't ever cut out to be a fighter. I shouldn't have let him go. I should've told him to stay behind."  
  
"We can't change the past, much like how we can't predict the future. There's always something that gets in the way," Andy murmured absently. The vixen looked up at him. Andy was about half a head taller than she was.  
  
"Call it a truce for now? No hard feelings about giving your position away to the cops, right?" She asked, giving Andy a cute look. Andy opened and closed his mouth a few times, too shy to say anything. At last, he nodded.  
  
"Sorry about the inn," Andy said. She shrugged and smiled. Without another word, she wandered off into the snow. The moment she left, the wind picked up again, blowing harsh snow into Andy's eyes.  
  
He smiled and went the other way.  
  
**  
  
Andy pulled the collar of his trenchcoat up further as the wind grew stronger. The tall towers of buildings around him didn't provide any cover from the howling air. Andy didn't have to look back, but he could hear the crunch of snow that wasn't coming from his own feet. A group of people, at least two, were following him. They were getting closer with each step they took.  
  
Andy could feel the disrupter pressing up on his thigh. He could almost hear the heavy breathing of those chasing him now. From the window of a law building, he could see the reflection behind him: A ferret and two lizards. They were all wearing thick leather jackets. Venomian special ops, no doubt. Andy didn't want to let them get off easy with just a simple blast of air.  
  
Wheeling around suddenly, Andy pulled out his staff and aimed the tip at the three. They froze in their tracks, looking around nervously. There weren't anyone else on the snowy street. The only thing that seemed to be watching was the looming building to Andy's left. It was deserted, but the cracked windows and the broken desks inside made the entire scene ghastly.  
  
"Who are you?" Andy shouted. They responded by pulling out blasters from their belts. Andy nodded, "Ahh."  
  
Wasting no more time, Andy focused his energy into the staff and a ball of liquid fire formed up at the tip, separated from the staff by a hairline. Andy waited until it was as big as he was until he set it loose. The Venomians didn't even have time to scream.  
  
The fire splashed over them, melting into their hide and burning their jackets. From his place ten yards away, Andy could smell the burning pelt. They watched in horror as their blaster melted in their palms and screamed frantically as flames sprang up all over their bodies. Andy watched with grim satisfaction as they toppled over, twitching violently, one by one. The hide on their faces was all charred pitch black. The ferret's ears were burnt off and the lizards smelled something like acridly prepared French frog legs.  
  
Andy just slipped the staff back under his trenchcoat and went on. The only witness was a drunken beggar huddled in the corner of the street. He dropped his bottle and ran, screaming and cursing, off into the storm.  
  
**Third person Falco**  
  
"Doctor, I told you three times already! Tails was fine the day before he was accused. I swear he wasn't doing any drugs! He's clean, Doctor," the falcon flapped his wings around dramatically, sending a few feathers flying off their sockets.  
  
"Really now?" The fox vixen asked. She had been extremely mysterious and riddling all throughout the discussion. She kept acting like she knew Tails and Falco. Clearing her throat, the vixen went on, "Would Tails really tell you if he was on narcotics, Agent Lombardi?"  
  
Falco cringed and thought for a moment. The psychiatrist grinned sadistically and pulled a few strands of her brown hair from her emerald eyes. She knitted her mud-brown fingers together and waited patiently for Falco's response. When none came, her grin grew wider.  
  
"To tell you the truth, Falco," she said, putting a strange emphasis on his name, "I'm not much of a insanity doctor. More of the 'put the bandages on the arm' doctor. Although, I could tell you that Tails had a disturbing past that drove him to be such a twisted maniac."  
  
"Hey! Miles Prower was no maniac!" Falco shouted, standing up and slamming his palms on the table. The young doctor didn't flinch; she only glanced up at Falco with her big, pretty, wise eyes. Falco cringed again and sat back down, muttering, "I know that look."  
  
"From one Amy Rose, mayhap?"  
  
"Yeah, she- Hey, how'd you know Amy?" Falco looked up. The doctor only smiled a bit more. Something about her told Falco that she was once a soldier, a very strong soldier. Falco was only in her office for three minutes and already he felt like he knew her forever. There was a muffled yell from one of the cells. It died down almost instantly.  
  
"Did he lose someone that he loved?" The doctor asked. Her tone made Falco feel that she already knew the answer. Falco took in a deep breath and smoothed back his head feathers.  
  
"Yeah. A close friend of his committed suicide a few months ago, I think. Well, at least I think he was a friend of hers. He told me that he traveled with her for a few days during the Venom-Cornerian War," Falco pondered for a moment. The doctor picked a bit of hair from her coat. Falco thought it strange for her to be wearing something that doctors didn't usually wear. Well, doctors have lives, too, Falco thought.  
  
"Did he..." The doctor paused, "Love her?"  
  
"Maybe," Falco shrugged, "He cried on for days after she died. Yeah, I think he felt a deep bond with her. Do you think that's the reason he went nuts?"  
  
The doctor nodded and smiled. Now, the smile wasn't as sadistic for some reason.  
  
"Hey, what's your name?" Falco asked as he got up to leave.  
  
"Liliana."  
  
"No, what's your surname?"  
  
"Time to go," she said loudly, "I have inmates to interrogate, you know!" She suddenly slammed the door in Falco's face. He shrugged and went out the front door and into the snow.  
  
**  
  
A/N: This Liliana is definitely strange, huh? Well, I might think about putting a few romance scenes about 'Andy' and her. 


	23. Stay with me

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prowler or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either.  
"Imagine seeing you again," Andy smirked. The vixen spun around and came extremely close to his face. She yelped in surprise and fell down into the snow. Clutching her heart and panting, she got up again and leaned against the skeleton of a tree. She forced a laugh and smiled at Andy.  
  
The park was completely empty of life except for the two foxes. The white light from the lamps shone on Andy's face and illuminated the scene: Bare trees, a couple of benches, and a hidden cement path somewhere beneath the snow. The storm had let up, but the wind still cast a freezing breeze that ruffled the vixen's hair. Breathing heavily, she waggled a finger disapprovingly at Andy.  
  
"Yeah, think of the odds," she puffed, blowing out a jet of steam in the chilly night air, "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I like to take a stroll in the park before I'm arrested for the murder of three people," Andy muttered. A timeless look brought upon the vixen's eyes. Andy shrugged and told her about the three Venomians that he had killed. He merely said that he conjured up a ball of flame; he didn't mention the staff.  
  
"Bad day, huh?" She grinned, unconcerned that he had brutally slaughtered three people. Any bystander that would've heard the story would scream at the vixen to run and bolt away themselves. But the vixen stood her ground, mildly interested about the murders.  
  
"Sort of," Andy studied her carefully, "Do you have experience with raving lunatics like me?" She smiled and extended a brown paw.  
  
"Dr. Liliana Cobalt, homicide psychologist," she said as Andy shook her paw.  
  
"Cobalt?" Andy smirked, a childish urge taking over him; "You don't look so blue. You shouldn't be sad. Hey, you seem to be a bit... 'Bright orange'?"  
  
"You'd be surprised," Liliana muttered.  
  
A strong gust suddenly picked up, throwing delicate flakes around them in a sort of whirlwind. Andy sniffed at some sort of rancid odor. Liliana wasn't so calm after that smell. Her ears suddenly fluttered and she threw her muzzle into the wind. Her nostrils flared two times and she cocked her head to Andy. She gave a flick of her eyes and she bolted off, almost disintegrating in the wind.  
  
Andy looked over his shoulder into the gust. Five tall shadows were barely visible behind a large oak. They were more than twenty yards away, but Andy could smell the stink of sweat and bad breath. His ears perked up as he caught a few words of what they were saying.  
  
"... How 'bout now, boss?"  
  
"No, you fool! Wait until he leaves. He'll lead us to her."  
  
"We'll fall two birds with a single stone..."  
  
Andy turned back to where he thought Liliana had run off into, but wheeled off in a 90 degree angle and went off along the path instead. He made sure to slide his feet to make it look like two people had been along that way. The snow as coming down so heavily then that Liliana's footsteps could barely been seen.  
  
Out of the corner of his eye, Andy saw that the Venomians had followed his tracks. Smirking contently, Andy waited until they were far enough from Liliana so it was safe to draw the staff...  
  
**Third person Falco**  
  
"Aw, jeez, that stinks!" Falco covered his nostrils with a sleeve and peered at the black lumps of ash. The wind had blown a large portion of them down the street, leaving something that looked oddly like a foot. The badger lieutenant shivered a bit at the scene and the horrid stench. Amy didn't even flinch at the sight.  
  
"And you call yourselves males," Amy snorted, kicking the charred foot out of the pile. It rolled almost obediently into the black plate-like carrier. The badger groaned unhappily, but picked up the plate and handed it over to another officer anyway. The other officer shone a flashlight on it and covered his nose as well.  
  
The lamps did a good job of throwing the dark, abandoned, night street into a halo of bluish light. Somehow, Amy looked a lot more threatening with a purple tint.  
  
"Who do you think did this? I say it was Tails," Falco muttered, "These people were wearing black leather. And where do you think you saw black leather last?"  
  
"Yeah, the last time, they tried to kill us," Amy scoffed, "But this isn't Tails' work. According to a security camera outside this building, it was that rogue fox with a stripe on his forehead."  
  
Falco mumbled something incoherently and pulled the collar of his gray jacket further up his neck. Amy threw her short hair over her shoulders and climbed back into the van. Falco started at the swirling gust of ash for a second before he followed her.  
  
"Oh, yeah, Lieutenant Lombardi?" The badger piped up. Falco's foot slipped on the van's steps and fell into the snow. He cursed the badger and pulled himself upright.  
  
"Yeah, what?" He grumbled, irritated. The badger cleared his throat, but Falco caught the hidden laugh.  
  
"Dr. Cobalt has disappeared, and there has been no signs of Agent Prower anywhere, even with all the security cameras stationed all over the city. We did, however, track the fox with the stripe into the Antonio Park area."  
  
"Good, yeah, whatever," Falco muttered as he brushed off the snow on his jacket and hopped into the van. Amy shot him a scowl from the passenger's seat. Falco shrugged and said a 'What?' before he drove off, nearly clipping the badger.  
  
**Third person Tails... Er, Andy**  
  
"You BASTARD!" Andy screamed as he brought his foot down on the fox's stomach. He cried out in pain, but it was cut off short with a stream of blood from his mouth. Andy growled and brought the sharp end of the staff down into the fox's shoulder. It got lodged between bone and sinew, but Andy gave it a violent jerk and he heard a bone snap. The fox was so dazed that he forgot to scream. Andy pulled the bloody staff out and panted, glaring at the fox. The fox that looked just like Miles Prower with one tail.  
  
Andy would've charred him into fine ash like his four comrades if he didn't frame him. The bloodlust erupted from his mind again and he jammed his foot on the fox's face until his jaw broke. The fox groaned and coughed up more blood, melting the snow around him into a frozen red pool.  
  
"You've ruined my life!" Andy yelled down at the fox. A powder of black snow swept over them. The ashes were beginning to get lost in the wind, but Andy felt like keeping this guy for a moment longer. Andy lifted his sneaker and examined the whimpering form. An ear was torn off when a ball of flame grazed him, but the other ear was gone due to Andy's doing. There were stab wounds all over him, including a deep gash in his abdomen and a gaping hole in his shoulder. That was only to name a few.  
  
"Get it over with," the fox wheezed.  
  
"I'll do just that," Andy snarled as he swung the staff like and axe and severed the fox's head. And who said revenge was bitter?  
  
**  
  
Andy walked slowly up the stairwell, following a wet track of melted snow before him. The old, abandoned building was falling apart, but it was a perfect place for a wet fox to hide from the stalking shadows. Maybe there was room for two. Andy didn't bother to count his steps up to the roof, but he estimated that he went sixteen floors.  
  
Suddenly, the winding staircase came to a halt in front of a black metal door. The handle was missing, but the door was open a crack. Andy ran a finger along the dusty brick frame and pushed the door softly inward. Despite its age, it didn't so much as squeak.  
  
Outside, the wind had let up, and the sheltering clouds provided enough trapped warmth for someone to stay outdoors. Sitting on the edge of the building, was the vixen Andy came to find. He was rather started to hear that she was talking to herself. Her head was lifted up to the bright moon. Whenever she spoke, it seemed like the blanket of white snow would shiver at her soft voice. Andy was sure he heard another person sound just like her, but his memory wasn't very clear about that.  
  
"You've always been there for me, haven't you?" Liliana smiled at the moon, completely unaware that Andy was right behind her, listening intently. She shifted a bit, making her trenchcoat ruffle. Her whispers almost made Andy's coat ruffle with a shiver as well.  
  
She paused for a moment, looking down into the streets. A bus roared by, its headlights shining on the street below for just a moment.  
  
"No one else has been so loyal. They all go away. They all ignore me eventually. They all leave me. They all abandon me," Liliana whispered sadly as she brought her lap up and huddled against it, "They all die."  
  
Andy watched as she shed tears into her hands. She slowly let go of her lap and looked back up at the moon.  
  
"Andrew died, that foolish boy. I told him to stay, but would he listen? Tails left me now, too. He didn't bother to come back and find me," she shuddered. Andy furrowed his brow. What was she talking about? He never knew a girl named Liliana. She curled up into a ball again and murmured, "Now Andy has abandoned me, too."  
  
"No, I haven't," Andy whispered. Liliana turned around slowly and forced herself to look up.  
  
"Oh, great, and now I'm hallucinating, too," she chuckled. She yelled happily and jumped up and held on tight on Andy's neck, hugging him so hard that he could scarcely breathe. She suddenly drew away and wiped a finger on Andy's coat. She frowned as she saw blood; "You're bleeding."  
  
"It's not my blood," Andy muttered reassuringly. Liliana smiled and hugged him again.  
  
"Stay with me, won't you?" She asked.  
  
"I will," Andy answered. He looked into her eyes, smiled, and kissed her.  
  
**  
  
A/N: Gah! Cheesy! Oi, maybe I should lay off the cheeseburgers... Now, you should all be wondering where (and when) Tails met Liliana. You'll see. Oh, yeah, and if you didn't already put the picture into your mind, our 'Andy' looks like Fox in a trenchcoat and sneakers. And 'what's with the trenchcoats', you say? Well, it is winter... So sue me. I take that back. Please, I don't have a lawyer. By the way, I don't plan on making the last book of this story long. Perhaps I'll write two more chapters, and maybe an epilogue, but no more. 


	24. Confusion, and then some

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prowler or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either.  
"You'd think that he'd run out of compressed, flammable hydrogen by now," Falco muttered as he kicked out a lump of snow to reveal some sort of burnt organ. Amy swept it up with a pan and gave it to the badger, who retched again.  
  
"Maybe he did," Amy said, pointing at outcropping in the snow and brushing snow off it, "Look. Do you think hydrogen could put holes in people's shoulders?"  
  
The badger looked as if he was going to be very sick. Amy huffed and shook off her jacket. The hot morning sun beat down on the crew of investigators. She really didn't like looking at dead people, but that fox seemed awfully familiar. Amy narrowed her eyes as she recognized the face.  
  
"Tails!" She screamed, backing up and tripping over a rock. Falco rushed over to see the body. He flipped it over with a boot and shook his head.  
  
"No. This fox only had one tail," Falco murmured slowly, "Wait a moment..."  
  
"How many tails did the rampaging murderer have?" Amy asked suddenly, grasping the badger by the collar. He blinked twice and shrugged.  
  
"One, of course."  
  
"What have we done?" Falco's jaw dropped and he flopped down on a bench; "The law system right now is seriously messed. And to think that we uphold it."  
  
"Guilty until proven innocent," Amy whispered. The empty wind howled in reply.  
  
**Third person Andy**  
  
He opened his eyes to the blazing sunlight. He rubbed his eyes and blinked furiously to adjust his pupils to the light. Andy yawned and looked down at the vixen in his arms. Liliana was cuddled up on his lap, breathing and sighing in regular intervals. Andy grinned and stroked her hair. It was just like touching silk in strings.  
  
"Hey, we should get going," Andy said in her ear. She stirred and looked up, scowling with tired eyes. A paw slipped off into the cold snow and she yelped, rolling off of him. Andy chuckled and got up from the corner beside the edge. Sleeping out on the roof seemed better than having to staying in the smelly recesses of the building.  
  
"Honestly, I don't think they're going to come at us for a while," Liliana grumbled as she brushed clean a patch of roof and sat down. Andy harrumphed and played with a loose string on his coat. His mind played back to what she had said to the moon the other night.  
  
"Do you know Miles Prower?" Andy asked. Liliana's elbow slipped off of her lap.  
  
"Yeah. He killed a whole bunch of people, right?" Liliana said shakily.  
  
"No, I mean, did you KNOW him?" Andy tried. Liliana shook her head quickly. She suddenly became very interested in her boots. Andy sighed, "Lying to me won't do any good, Lily." She looked up and scowled weakly.  
  
"My story is irrelevant," she muttered, turning around on her bottom. Andy took her arm and pulled her back.  
  
"That depends on who is hearing it," Andy said. His eyes burned with a curious intensity. Liliana seemed shocked at the expression on his face. She backed away, out of his grasp and hugged her knees like she had done when she was talking to the moon.  
  
"You look... You look so much like him," she sobbed. A paw clenched tightly on her coat. Andy's expression softened and he took her in his arms. He patted her head awkwardly.  
  
"Ok, ok, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Andy hushed. Liliana let go of her death grip on her shins and returned the embrace.  
  
"I'm not who you think I am."  
  
**Third person Falco**  
  
"You know, Falco," Amy hissed, "I can't wait to get my hands on Andross. I'm going to tear his head off and put it in a blender!" Falco fidgeted nervously on the steering wheel. He pressed on the accelerator pad and the hover van hummed off towards the base.  
  
Amy growled loudly again and Falco nearly swerved into another car. Falco, if was going to, couldn't use a supercomputer to count how many people Andross had killed. Tails was missing, but most likely alive, and that's probably the only person they trusted who didn't die in the hands of Andross, other than General Pepper, of course. Alex Brophy (although only ordered to act as Tails' uncle, was trusted as much as anyone else, Krystal (her death was indirect, but was driven by Andross), Katt, most likely Dr. Cobalt, and numerous others.  
  
"Chill out, Amy," Falco said in a shy voice, "General Peppy predicts that Andross must be out of followers by now. We have a good idea about where he is hiding."  
  
"WHERE?"  
  
Quite obviously, Amy wasn't chilling out.  
  
"General Pepper says he's using magic as a disguise. He's hiding somewhere inside the agency," Falco cowered at Amy's fury. She looked like something from 'The Horror from the Katinian Underground'. Even though Falco loved that movie, he really didn't want the horror in his passenger seat, dangerously close from plucking all the feathers from his body.  
  
"Oh, you just wait until I find out."  
  
**Third person Andy**  
  
"Really, then?" Andy said skeptically, raising an eyebrow. Liliana's eyes suddenly blazed with green fire. Andy had only seen that look in three others: Falco, Amy, and himself. Surprised, he backed up a step. Liliana suddenly glowed white, and in a flashed, she wasn't there anymore. A sort of specter replaced where she was just standing. A ghost in Liliana's trenchcoat. A ghost.  
  
"What did I tell you?" The vixen gave a small, faint smile and spread her arms, as if welcoming Andy's shocked expression.  
  
**Third person Falco**  
  
"Say, where's that badger?" Amy suddenly asked, looking around the crew. The raccoon shrugged and got the case that contained the burnt organ. Falco scratched his head and gave Amy a quizzical look.  
  
"Who cares? I never liked him much anyway," Falco snorted, "With his stupid, sly expression and his dumb white hair... The guy smells like a monkey in a urinal."  
  
"Monkey," Amy repeated, "A white-haired guy smelling like a monkey."  
  
Falco froze in place, one foot inside the marble building and the other stuck outside. Amy, quick as a flash, picked him up with one paw and threw him in the van.  
  
"Just wait, Falco, my boy."  
  
**  
  
A/N: If you read closely, a lot of things are falling into place, especially with Liliana. I know this chapter is horribly short, but I need a few dreams to get my head back into gear. 


	25. Reborn from death

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prowler or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either.  
"You didn't drown?" Andy asked. Krystal threw him a questioning glance. Her paws fell down from their eagle-spread position and were stuck in her pockets. Andy jumped at her and held her close, "You're alive!"  
  
"Does this me know you?" Krystal blinked. Andy let go of her and reached into his trenchcoat pocket and took out the staff. Krystal snatched it with the speed of a cougar and felt it in her paws. She looked up at Andy and smiled, "Well, I thought I knew you looked like someone I knew." Andy nodded and released the power containing his disguise. He sighed happily as he felt the use of both his tails. Krystal pushed back a fringe and smiled, looking up and down at Tails.  
  
"I thought that the sneakers were a dead giveaway," Tails chuckled. Krystal's smile grew so wide Tails was almost certain if she was any happier, the edges of her lips would disappear under her hair. Tails grasped her neck and pressed his lips on hers.  
  
"Oh, am I interrupting something?"  
  
Tails quickly pushed Krystal away and looked at the doorway leading down into the staircase. It was the badger that he had nearly run over, but his eyes were no longer brown, but an ugly shade of yellow. With every passing second, Tails could see his black fur whiten. With every threatening step he took towards Tails, a scar would appear on his putrid face. His teeth grew into menacing fangs and his paws sprouted sharp claws. By the time he got within three yards of Tails, he was no longer a badger.  
  
"Andross," Krystal hissed. She brought her paws up and aimed them at Andross. She curled her fingers into some sort of claws and made the air around her crackle with a dark ball of black lightening. Tails was sure that Andross would be fried into a blob of red gore, but instead of hitting him, the ball was caught in Andross' paw and he flung it back at Krystal. She had just enough time to leap out of the way as the ball whizzed passed her and into a building at the side of the street. The ball of lightening made a hole the size of a car.  
  
"Ah, Captain," Andross sneered, clamping a hand on Krystal's neck and squeezing hard, "It's nice to see you again."  
  
Tails whipped out the staff and shot three, small fireballs at Andross in succession. The white ape dropped Krystal and deflected the shots with a simple wave of his hand. Andross advanced slowly towards Tails, the sneer on his face growing more and more wicked.  
  
"Miles Prower," he said, his voice dripping with malice, "Foolish boy. Do you think your mere magic tricks would work on someone with my power?"  
  
Tails responded by swinging the staff in Andross' direction. He caught the rod with a swift motion and jerked it out of Tails' hands. He threw it aside.  
  
"Don't fight, Tails. You'd better join me and spare the suffering of you pathetic friend here," Andross cackled. He was still in the blue uniform of a Cornerian police officer, but he managed to look as evil as anyone. He waved his hands around and created a ball of liquid fire, the same kind Tails used. Andross laughed, "Do you actually think that you were the only one to be able to properly control your power? No, Miles! The virus, do you know how the virus was created?"  
  
Tails wasted no time in fusing chemicals into water and spraying Andross' fireball out. He shook his head and only made another one.  
  
"I thought you were curious. The Cerinians created the virus more than four millennia ago. They infected their entire planet with the seemingly harmless strand of flu. All pregnant vixen gave birth to children who possessed the ability to control energy. You may call that magic, but I call it a source for power!" Andross flung the ball at Tails. Tails was barely able to dodge it as it splashed all over the rooftop. The snow melted and bits of tar and plaster burned, creating fumes that threatened to choke Krystal, who was unconscious on the ground.  
  
"Power corrupts!" Tails screamed as he sucked the heat from around Andross, hoping to freeze him. It didn't work, but it put out the toxic flames.  
  
"No, Tails. Power is the only thing that can bring harmony to the Lylat. I plan to use it to rule over those too weak to seek power. Power is sweet. Power is what creatures are born for!" Andross roared as he tackled Tails to the ground and jammed his knee in his stomach, "You are too weak. And to think infecting your mother would've created a suitable ally for me. You're ALL weak!"  
  
"There are other forms of strength," Tails choked as he tried fruitlessly to pry Andross from crushing his ribs. Andross growled and brought a fist down on Tails' face. Tails felt a bone crack and his nose started bleeding.  
  
"Fool! I know of what you speak. Bravery, is it? Compassion, you say? Idiot!" Andross yelled as he smashed another fist into Tails' chest, "Those are forms of weakness! The selflessness that you think will save the lives of others only make you the one who will lose!"  
  
"True, but risking your own hide may save the pelts of countless others," Tails gasped. Andross growled and stood up. He started kicking Tails mercilessly in the sides of his chest with his heavy boot. Andross laughed maniacally as he heard a rib snap... And another...  
  
"Do you yield?" Andross asked.  
  
"No," Tails wheezed.  
  
"DO YOU YIELD!"  
  
"No."  
  
"Fool," Andross muttered as he gave Tails one last kick, "Maybe something else will change your mind."  
  
Tails groaned as he tried to sit up to see what Andross was doing. He picked up Krystal by the neck and again and marched towards the edge. Tails could only watch as he dangled the unconscious Krystal above the street, sixteen floors down. A furious snowstorm suddenly picked up, throwing locks of her hair around. Tails staggered to his feet and tried to calm his spinning head of pain.  
  
"Now, do you yield?" Andross asked again, more sadistically. Krystal stirred and opened her eyes. She gasped for breath and clawed at Andross' big paw. She shuddered as he shook her to prove his point to Tails.  
  
"Tails, don't," Krystal moaned.  
  
"Do you yield?" Andross asked patiently.  
  
"Tails, if you cooperate willingly, he could absorb all your energy. It will kill you and make him stronger. With that power, he could tear apart Corneria," Krystal coughed.  
  
"Ah, yes quite the predicament, isn't it, Tails? I you join me, she will live, but the entire Lylat System would fall under the rule of a ruthless dictator. If you don't, the vixen whom you love will be plunged seventy feet down into a cement sidewalk. She won't be able to save herself with magic; she'll be too weak. YOU can't even save her," Andross threw his ugly face back and roared with laughter, "Ah, yes, shall it be duty, which you have been betrayed of by your closest friends, or shall it be love, which you have found only a few hours ago? Let us see how your bravery and compassion match up in the worst decision of your life."  
  
Tails wiped blood from his mouth and look between Krystal and Andross. Despite having a broken nose, internal bleeding, and three broken ribs, he felt clean of physical pain. His head, though, was throbbing with agony. Tails hung his head; his brain feeling like it had been in a blender with the frappe button on for three minutes.  
  
"Put this into your thick skull, then, you stupid jerk," Krystal shouted, her voice suddenly commanding, "If you even think of saving me instead of the world, then I'll let you know that I will hate your stinking guts for all eternity."  
  
"Tsk, what do you see in her, anyway?" Andross jeered, tightening his grip on the blue vixen's throat.  
  
"I have made my choice," Tails looked up.  
  
"Oh, really?" Andross smiled, "Do tell me."  
  
"I yield."  
  
"NO!" Krystal screamed, thrashing against Andross as he brought her back down onto the roof. He quickly squeezed the major nerve in her body near her shoulder so she fell down, unconscious, again.  
  
"A very stupid choice, but as long as it benefits me..." Andross walked towards Tails, "You do know that you'll never be able to see her again, don't you?"  
  
"I know, but I'm willing to accept that," Tails answered. Andross grinned and put his hand on Tails' shoulder.  
  
"Be prepared as I suck the life out of you."  
  
"Ah, yes," Tails looked up into Andross' yellow eyes and smirked, "But be prepared as I take the air from your lungs."  
  
Suddenly, the loud, buzzing retort of a gun was heard as a red beam of focused light went in and out of Andross' chest. He looked up in horror at Tails and back down at his punctured heart. He chuckled and smiled at Tails before he vomited blood and crumpled down into a heap on the roof. Tails remained his hard expression as he looked at the smoking blaster in his paw. It was silver white. It was Alex's gun. Tails was only too lucky that he had always kept it in a holster near his heart. Tails sighed in relief and he tucked the gun back into his vest. He looked up to where Krystal was lying, but the thing was that she wasn't there. There was a staff, a dead body, and an impression in the snow where she was a second ago.  
  
Tails blinked down a tear and he turned back to the stairwell, where a stunned, blue falcon and an impressed pink hedgehog waited as black shadows to apologize in front of an orange, rising sun. Tails smiled feebly as he winked at Falco and Amy, a golden, bloody staff in his paws...  
  
**  
  
A/N: Is it just me or do my characters always have a way of disappearing into the dark? Oh, yeah, just one more epilogue and I'm outta here. 


	26. Epilogue

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Why do those dumb lawyers make us poor writers make these stupid things? Bah! Anyway, I don't own Miles 'Tails' Prowler or any of the StarFox team, although they are barely involved and Tails is almost my character (after I added a few touches to him).  
  
Introduction: Well, my brain was kinda hyper after I played Sonic for about six hours straight at a friend's house AND watched 'We Were Soldiers' the other night, so I just decided to write something about our overshadowed Tails. Poor little guy; he doesn't get much attention. This is centered a bit more on StarFox than it is Sonic, so I'll just file it under StarFox. As always with my stories, this has no reference whatsoever to my other fictions. This is based on an alternate universe setting. Oh, don't worry, you don't have to know anything about Tails. Frankly, I don't know anything about him either.  
**Epilogue**  
  
"He never drinks coffee," Amy muttered as she leaned on the wooden doorframe. Falco murmured something about Tails drinking orange tea. Amy nodded and left Tails to brood about his own problems. The bird sighed as he peered into the blinds and saw a miserable two-tailed fox in his mahogany desk, a large stack of papers in his 'In' pile and a cup of coffee in a coarse china cup. His elbow was on the table and his finger was making little circles on the desk.  
  
"I hope he's okay."  
  
"He'll be fine," Amy smiled sweetly at Falco and pulled him away, "They all get over disappearances."  
  
"He didn't last time," Falco grumbled. Amy scowled at him and suddenly pecked his cheek. Falco blushed so much that his feathers seemed purple.  
  
"Don't be so pessimistic," Amy grinned and blushed, too.  
  
**  
  
Tails fluttered along the skies like a helicopter, completely oblivious to the harsh snowstorm blowing in his face. It was going to be spring soon, and the possibility of the horrid weather getting better kept Tails' mind off the stinging, freezing pain in his large ears. There wasn't much left to do at the agency, a big problem gone and all, so all the people cramped up in offices (including Tails, Falco, and Amy) went out to take walks or get a cappuccino.  
  
A sudden gust blew Tails off course and set his eyes into the sun, flashing over his line of vision and making a strange, green blur appear in his eye. He grumbled and tried to blink it away, but every time he did so, the image grew more and more bluish, until it turned into the face of a young fox with a short snout. Tails blinked again, and the image in his eyelid went away.  
  
Another gust, as if guided by ghosts, threw Tails' vision to the blue and green planet of Zoness, setting like a moon over the mountains beyond the city. A thought popped into Tails' mind and he agreed with it whole- heartedly.  
  
**  
  
"A vacation?" Falco asked, as if a vacation was the greatest invention in the galaxy, and Tails just thought of it, "Hey, that's great! Maybe it'll make your head clear up and maybe you'll be able to concentrate on work now."  
  
"Just maybe, Falco," Tails mumbled absently, "Just maybe it will."  
  
"Take as long as you like, Tails," Amy patted Tails on the head and clicked off his computer for him, "The base owes you an apology, after all."  
  
"The base needs to apologize to a lot of people, you know," Tails smirked faintly before he lifted himself from the chair and walked out of the office.  
  
**A day later, White Stone Executive Hotels, Zoness**  
  
Tails looked around the place and noted the marble columns around the lounge. The sliding door opposite him lead to a swimming pool. He could see a couple of kittens running around, tagging each other and shoving their parents into the water. This was defiantly the place Falco was about a year back. He backed up a step and into the mat as a janitor went by with a large sweeper. He was whistling the tune to 'Robin Hood'. Tails smiled to himself as he remembered Falco stuttering to Krystal.  
  
Tails stepped around the janitor and up to the front desk, his sneakers tapping softly on the floor as he went by. He was wondering how the staff didn't trigger the metal detector as he bumped into the desk. Shrugging it off, he folded his arms over the neck-high wood divider and smiled at the person behind it. She was scribbling quickly on a few bits of paper and didn't seem to notice Tails. Maybe this time she would see through the disguise.  
  
"Hey, I'm looking for a single room, please," Tails said in a slight British accent. The receptionist looked up with big green eyes and scowled. From her ruffled blue hair and her flat cheek, Tails would've said she had woken on the wrong side of the bed, literally.  
  
"Can't you see that I'm busy?" Krystal growled. Tails lifted and eyebrow, which was currently gray under his disguise. His shirt and pants were quite different from his usual attire, but he kept the shoes, just to test her. Her eyes drifted not to his shirt, but to his eyes. Tails tried to look mildly curious, but inside, he was smiling again. Bill Grey had the strangest eyes anyone would've seen: Brown flecked with bright blue. Tails wondered why he didn't gawk at the late commander's eyes when he first saw them. He had read that natural huskies could have one brown eye and one blue eye, but Bill must be some sort of in-breed.  
  
"Sorry," Tails said and made Bill's droopy-furred tail pause for a moment in mid-wag, "I'll wait."  
  
"No, no," she sighed, looking back down to her papers again, "I tumbled down my bed this morning and fell unconscious, so I was late for work and I didn't get any breakfast. Then, the kitchen decided to serve kiwi with an alternative of cashew pie, both of which, combined with the chemicals they have, I am allergic to. It'll make my mouth swell up and my throat will feel like wood for the rest of the week. But that's irrelevant. What did you want?"  
  
"A room," Bill said slowly, trying to conceal his laughter. Krystal, instead of getting a key, decided to cock her head to one side and gaze into Bill's eyes.  
  
"Do I know you?" She asked, narrowing her eyelids.  
  
"Not exactly," Bill grinned. She said an 'uh-huh' and nodded, swinging around in her chair. Bill saw that she was wearing all black, definitely not her color. Bill thought she would look a lot nicer in gray and dark green, but he kept his mouth shut.  
  
"Name, please?"  
  
"William Grey," Bill said. Krystal paused typing in the name. Bill grinned slightly, knowing that she would recognize that name. She typed it in slowly and looked back at Bill, her eyes running from his paws, to his eyes, to his hair and ears. A good spy always looked for those four things first, making Bill grin again.  
  
"Are you sure I don't know you?" She asked again.  
  
"I wouldn't be completely sure, but maybe?" Bill shrugged. Krystal gave Bill a suspicious glance and turned to the shelves behind her. She picked a key from a slot that had two cards and handed one to Bill. He smiled and took it. She was being careful.  
  
Bill straightened back up and walked to the staircase, making sure to get his shoes in view of the small space where Krystal would go to and from her breaks. Krystal's eyes followed him the whole way. Bill's smile grew a lot wider as he caught her eyes flicking down to the red sneakers.  
  
"Wait," she called out. Bill paused and turned, trying to look surprised. She furrowed her brow and said, "Can I show you to your room? The place I gave you is a nightmare to find. Al, can you take over?" "Yes, your all great-and-mighty highness," the janitor mumbled sarcastically. Krystal thanked him and hurried to Bill's side. She gave him a little nudge to get going. Bill made a face that a single guy in a post- secondary degree school would make if a beautiful young girl just asked him to the college dance.  
  
"Really, it's not necessary," Bill said. Krystal ignored him and followed him up the steps. Bill waited patiently until Krystal guided him to a dead end near the exercise room, where there was no one, currently. Bill wheeled around on the red carpet and faced Krystal, who had her arms crossed over her chest and a lecturing scowl on her face. The look might've peeled the white paint off the wall behind Bill. Bill pretended to stutter, "What's the meaning of this?"  
  
"Stop it, Tails, this isn't funny."  
  
"Who's Tails? I told you, my name is William, or Bill, if you prefer."  
  
"Quit it! We need to talk."  
  
"You've got the wrong guy, lady," Bill lifted his paws up in a signal of innocence. Krystal, of course, didn't buy it. Instead, she reached under his baggy shirt and felt along his belt line. Her eyes flicked up in triumph as she took out the folded staff.  
  
"I told you: I've caught ya."  
  
"Just playing with you," Bill chuckled as he flashed his appearance back to Tails. Krystal's scowl grew completely confident and annoyed.  
  
"Do you remember what I said if you had tried to save me?" Krystal asked dangerously.  
  
"Yeah, you'd hate my guts for all eternity or something like that," Tails responded, his expression darkening, "I really meant for him not to hurt you, Krystal. I had a plan and I-"  
  
"Shut up!" Krystal shouted, "You jeopardized the entire Lylat System to pull that stunt. One person is not worth that! Didn't your damn Special Ops training teach you anything? And you want to know what else?" Tails flinched. "I forgive you."  
  
"What?" Tails came out of his cringe position and stared at Krystal.  
  
"You heard me. I forgive you for what you've done, and I thank you for saving my life," she smiled and enveloped Tails in a tight hug. Tails' nose wrinkled a bit in pleasure; She smelled of natural strawberries. Sighing, she let go of him after a long time, "You kept your promise, didn't you? You came back."  
  
"But I DID leave you," Tails frowned.  
  
"No, I left you," Krystal prodded him in the chest.  
  
"You've been eating yogurt again?" Tails asked. Krystal ran her tongue in her cheek.  
  
"You spied on me, haven't you?" Krystal glared. Tails only smirked. She laughed and leaned in for a kiss, but stopped as she saw that he was just standing there, "What? Afraid to kiss me again, or are you just allergic to the remains of strawberry yogurt on my lips?"  
  
"I never kissed you. I kissed Liliana Cobalt."  
  
"Given, but you kissed my soul by keeping your loyalty," Krystal reasoned. Tails made a sound of understanding and nodded once.  
  
Tails waited for a moment until the tension between the two heightened to so much that Krystal had to clear her throat and look away. Tails smiled and relaxed. With two quick motions, he swept her into his arms and cupped his snout over hers. Tails' mouth, partly hidden under Krystal's, curved into a smirk.  
  
Her lips did taste like strawberry yogurt.  
  
**  
  
A/N: Finally, it is now officially over. This is my longest fiction yet, in case you didn't know. I was thinking about doing another chapter to my cheesy story about Falco... Ai, I'm actually afraid to get into more details about mouth-to-mouth contact. Maybe I should actually learn how to kiss before I write more romance scenes... Yeah, but at school, I look and act like a freaky nerd on crack... Hey, that rhymed! 


End file.
